In the last episode’s comments, someone asked if it was time to make dandelion wine. I’m not keen on making wine (it seems like a lot of work just for me, since Jamie doesn’t drink alcohol), but I’m up for anything to do with cooking.
Wildlife doesn’t kill you in the UK!
For the last 20 years, we’ve been in countries where all kinds of animals are ready to kill you everywhere you go. Encounters with wild tigers and elephants in India were scary, but monkeys with large teeth can be surprisingly dangerous. And we’ve seen pythons, cobras, and a variety of snakes and lizards all across Asia (including Komodo dragons, one of the scariest animals I’ve met).
In the water, we’ve avoided touching various deadly sea creatures, and have kept away from sharks and other big animals that might eat you (like sea crocs).
I’ve been careful about going shoeless for fear of being stung, bitten or invaded by a parasite, not to mention painful leeches, ticks and mosquitoes bearing gifts like malaria, encephalitis, and various blood parasites…
The only thing we have to worry about on land here in the UK is the adder. It could kill you if you were really unlucky, but so could a bee if you are allergic to their stings.
What can kill you here is the plant life, which brings us back to…
What to be careful of when foraging
We know that lots of canal boaters are foragers, and it’s something we’d like to try. But apart from the occasional scrumped apple, we know nothing about it, or what’s safe to eat.
Mushrooms are a definite no-no at the moment, because you really can kill yourself with the wrong ones, but even familiar wild plants can kill you. Hemlock and Dead Man’s Fingers look an awful lot like cow parsley, but both are deadly. Then there are foxgloves, ivy and deadly nightshade to be wary of. Even bluebells, every ancient wood’s staple, is poisonous, potentially fatal.
Stinging nettles
I’m in familiar territory with those nasty stingers that seem to catch you without revealing themselves. They can be annoying, but they won’t do you any permanent damage. So I decided to try my hand at one of the ancient foraged dishes, nettle soup.
I thought it would be pretty easy to find a recipe, but the internet came up with lots of alternative suggestions.
Some include both stalks and leaves, some the leaves only, and I even found one recipe that just used the stalks.
Then there’s the thickener, do you choose potatoes, oatmeal, or a good old-fashioned butter and flour Roux?
There are recipes that contain only the nettles and a little seasoning. While others had onions, tomatoes, garlic, coriander, carrots, turmeric, leeks, ham, pancetta, chicken stock, the list goes on.
.I can’t imagine much nettle flavour coming through in the most complicated dishes, and perhaps too much in the purist versions. So I’ve settled halfway, using the ingredients I happened to have, potatoes as a thickener, and vegetable stock.
Before you start cooking
Don’t do anything until you’ve cleaned the nettles you’ve picked. If they’re from the towpath, there is the likelihood of all kinds of unmentionables on them. I rinsed mine under cold running water, then soaked them in a solution of diluted white vinegar for 10 minutes. I gave them another rinse to remove the vinegar taste. Finally, I dried them in a salad spinner.
And the nettles you pick should be new, tender shoots, not the old boilers that have been hanging around for a while getting taller and tougher. But if you can only find older nettles, take the top new leaves, which is what I did.
The recipe
Ingredients (this is what I used)
300gm of young nettles, or older nettle tops
1ltr vegetable stock
3 tablespoons butter
500mls diced peeled potato
500ml chopped leeks
1 finely chopped small onion any kind)
2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
250ml diced celery
pinch of nutmeg
salt and pepper
125ml cream or whole milk
Ingredients to serve with soup
Crème fraiche
Chopped fresh mint (from my pot!)
Olive oil
For the soup mixture
Boil the potatoes, and put aside.
Gently fry the celery, onion, garlic, and leeks in butter.
When done, add the stock and potatoes, then bring to a simmer to ensure everything is thoroughly cooked.
Leave to cool while preparing the nettles.
Preparing the nettles
Wash the nettles in a sink of cold water, then dry them. This will take as long as you deem necessary, some places are cleaner than others. Keep all the leaves, but throw out the tough stalk. The thin and tender stalk is fine; you’re going to puree it all later, anyway.
Steam them until wilted – a short cooking time brings out greater vibrance. Once the leaves are cool enough to handle, squeeze out as much water as you can, then finely chop and remove any remaining tough stalk or unwanted detritus.
Final mincing and cooking
Combine the nettles and cooled soup in a blender, and puree the mixture. Gently reheat the puree on the stove, but do not let it boil.
Adjust the seasoning to suit your taste.
Finally, whisk in the cream or whole milk to loosen it. The flavour and colour improves as it sits, but add a splash of stock if it is too thick (I had to do this).
How to serve
Nettle soup tastes best if it has been made a day before serving. Transfer it to a container and refrigerate your soup overnight (up to 3 days).
I picked some fresh mint from my own pot and sprinkled it over the soup; it was delicious!
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