Chloe Newcomb Hodgetts is a professional forager, wild food chef and consultant. She runs guided foraging courses and supplies wild food to Michelin starred restaurants, mixologists and bars.
HOW DO YOU FIND AND IDENTIFY PRODUCE TO FORAGE?
Foraging wild plants for food must be approached with caution and respect. You can teach yourself slowly from books and online resources, but in my opinion, it is worthwhile to do a forage with an experienced guide. Foraging requires all the senses. To identify some items, you need to smell them and you can’t do that from a book, you need to be out in the field with someone experienced.
WHEN CAN YOU FORAGE FOR MUSHROOMS?
In September the woodland comes alive with mushrooms, which are abundant until November. Ancient woodland is key, as fungal networks develop in association with tree species, so the more pristine and ancient the woodland, the more edible wild mushrooms will be available.
HOW DO YOU KNOW WHICH MUSHROOMS AREN’T POISONOUS?
Unfortunately, there is no over-arching rule to guide you on which mushrooms are edible, toxic, or deadly. Every single species must be learned and studied individually. For example, two species in the same family, virtually identical to the naked eye, bar one tiny visible point of differentiation, can mean the difference between a delicious dinner and your last! For beginners, there are a few edible wild mushrooms which are relatively easy to identity. The easiest ones to learn to recognise are probably ruby and scarlet elf cup mushrooms, chanterelles, porcini, chick on the woods, hedgehog mushrooms, hen of the woods, parasol mushrooms and oysters. In the UK people tend to be most comfortable with white mushrooms as that is what they buy in the supermarket, but in the wild, it is the white mushrooms which are the deadliest.
WHAT ELSE CAN YOU FORAGE FOR IN SEPTEMBER AND GOING THROUGH TO THE WINTER MONTHS?
On the salt marshes wonderful coastal edibles such as marsh samphire, sea asters and rock samphire are still available in September, while in the meadows and hedgerows fantastic herbs and seeds such as mugwort, which tastes like lavender and common hogweed seeds with cardamom and orange notes, are in their element. Woodland edges provide spiced roots such as wood avens with a clove flavour, while pine tree needles give wonderful citrus tastes and in meadow brooks, wild watercress thrives with its strong white pepper taste.
WHAT CAN YOU FORAGE FOR IN A HEDGE OR MEADOW?
An incredible variety of ingredients – too many to list here! My favourite hedgerow species include sage, rosemary and thyme and Jack-by-the-Hedge, which has a strong garlicky, mustard flavour. I also love vetch in the spring which is like a wild pea, meadowsweet flowers which have a marzipan flavour and fungi such as jelly ears, which like to grow on dead elder in hedges. Meadows can provide fabulous zingy flavours such as sorrel, the leaves of which tastes like the sour skin of a Granny Smith apple, primrose, pignuts and cowslip blooms.
