April ish
Starter: hedge garlic, wild garlic leaf, bud, blossom, seeds, three cornered leek (taste of garlic and onion)
Main: chickweed and hairy bittercress pakoras, hogweed shoot tempura, nettle crisps
A spread of green snacks!
By now the greens are really getting going. So many of the small green weeds you see everywhere on streets and verges and wasteland are chickweed and bittercress. The first is mild, like beansprouts or spinach, though a little strong and stretchy string runs through the stem ( which is a great way to identify it) so chop it up finely. Its great both raw and cooked. The second is peppery, like rocket or mustard, and if you also chop that finely and mix in, you’ll have a great mix which you can add gram flour, perhaps some onion, diced, and spices like chilli, ginger, cumin, ground coriander seeds and garam masala. Add water, salt and make into rough balls, fry in oil. Any or all of the aliums or galic-alikes would also make sense here, on top, as a salad, or in the greens mix.
For the hogweed, choose shoots that are barely opened, they will be the most tender. Make a tempura batter with a corn and plain four mix and iced sparkling water. Fry in hot sesame oil. The tender stems will be steam cooked and crispy.
Nettles are hard to pick without getting stung by their little trichomes, which lose their sting once they get into an oven or hot water- so you just have to find a way to de-leaf and clean them. Most use gloves, the pros somehow don’t need to and can even show you how to pick the fresh tips straight off with a little twist. I’ve done it but the confidence usually leaves me and then i get got. Its ok, I actually like the sensation. (old leaves or ones down the stem aren't so good, and don’t eat the leaf if they have seeds- but in spring, they’ll be super fresh) Once washed, put on a baking tray, and crisp up. Add salt if you want, to all these snacks. But the flavour of nettle is a rich deep irony earth flavour and that’s special on its own.