Wild in the Kitchen: a blog by forager Will Newitt

Nettles are the topic in the latest of a series of bi-monthly blogs by Dorset-based forager, Will Newitt, owner of Down to Earth Bushcraft.

It may still seem like winter out there but look a bit closer and you may notice that many of our wild greens are starting to stir- whispering of the coming foraging extravaganza commonly known as spring.

One of the most iconic of these plants when it comes to wild food is probably the humble nettle.

It seems a travesty that from an early age we are taught to fear this plant as it really has it all from a foraging point of view being abundant, tasty and packed with vitamins, protein and iron.

Both heating and crushing neutralise the sting and for the next few months, while it’s young and tender, it’s a regular in my kitchen. Amongst other things, I juice it for breakfast with a few other wild edible greens plus some apple, carrot and ginger, blend it into soup for a hearty lunch or blitz it into a pesto for the evening pasta. Perhaps with a little nettle cordial or nettle beer to wash it down with. If I’m leading a bushcraft session deep in the woods it’s also fun to flame grill it over the campfire for a kind of wild take on crispy kale.

Various top chefs are experimenting with what would have once been a regular ingredient in our ancestors diet. Katie Caldesi gets the whole family making nettle gnocchi  while James Lowe, head chef and co-owner of Lyle’s in Shoreditch makes his famous, if somewhat controversial, nettle soup.

Will is a wild food obsessive. He is a forager based in Dorset, where he runs a fledgling bushcraft business, specialising in introducing people to the edible pleasures of woodland and hedgerow. More info can be found at www.downtoearthbushcraft.com

See Will's previous foraging posts here.