Food from the Wild
Herbs
Marjoram Origanum vulgare
Quite common in dryfields on limy soils in the south of England, marjoram has
hairy grey-green leaves and bears small pink flowers from July to September.
One of the few herbs of which the taste increases when the plant is dried and
one of the best herbs for all savoury dishes.
Mint Mentha
'The smell of Mint does stir up the minde and the taste to a greedy desire of
meate'-so said Gerard in the sixteenth century. There are seven kinds of wild
mint in Britain, but only four are really suitable for cooking. Of the others,
the peppermint is often used as a flavouring for toothpaste and the apple and
eau de Cologne mints are dried and put in pot pourris.
Corn mint, water mint, horse mint and, the one most often grown in gardens, spearmint, all prefer damp places and are common. They have pinkish flowers blooming generally between July and October. A few leaves chopped and put in cream cheese or sprinkled on top of a tomato salad improve both. Put with new potatoes and peas, or used as a sauce for lamb, mint has no equal.
Ramson Allium ursinum
Ramson proliferates in woods and shady lanesides. The flowers bloom between April
and June. All parts of the plant smell strongly of garlic. The true wild garlic
is a different species from ramson and is rare, but ramson, although losing some
of its flavour when cooked, makes a good substitute. The chopped stalks can also
be used instead of chives.
Salad Burnet
Poterium sanguisorba
A cooling cucumber-scented leaf, 'It gives a grace in the drynkynge' declared
Gerard, but the young leaves will also add 'grace' to a salad. A limestone-loving
plant, it has purple flowers which bloom from June to September, and leaves
which Turner, in his Newe Herbal of 1551, likened to 'the wings of
Birdes, standing out as the bird setteth her wings out when she intendeth
to flye'.
Thyme Thymus drucei
Over forty species of wild thyme have been identified growing in Europe of which
three are found in Britain. The only one which is widespread is T. drucei common
on dry grassland, heaths, dunes and rocky country throughout Britain. It has
clusters of pale pink flowers between May and August. Soups, stews, stuffings
and sauces all benefit from a sprig of thyme. In the Highlands of Scotland, it
was thought that smelling thyme gave one strength and courage and that eating
it prevented bad dreams.
Wood Sorrel Oxalis acetosella
The leaves can be put in salads to take the place of vinegar or lemon dressing.
They taste similar, extremely sharp and acid. Wood sorrel's other name is
cuckoo's meate from the country belief that the bird cleared its throat by
eatings its leaves. A pretty plant, the leaves are clover-shaped and the flowers
white. They bloom in April and May.
