Wild Garlic

No, it's not a restaurant review of last year's Masterchef winner Mat Follas, it's the fruits of a forage in Maulden Woods yesterday. Me and my family used to go there every Sunday with our crazed Springer spaniel Toby when I was younger and it was an annual tradition to catch the bluebells in late April/May but yesterday was particularly special as my parents are moving away from the area.

I've never been confident in my foraging skills but it's pretty satsifying cooking something you've plucked fresh from wild ground. I'm unlikely to get seriously into foraging because a. it sounds like a middle-aged hobby, b. there's not much woodland in London Bridge and c. I'd probably poision myself. Fortunately Dad took charge this time so we were in good hands and came home with a hatful of wild garlic leaves for an omelette lunch.

I think he regretted collecting the leaves in his hat as the smell clung- no bad thing really as that cap is not a good look on him!

When we got back, we let the leaves soak a bit to get rid of the grub. The woods had a really pungent onion smell from the garlic but when you cook the stuff it actually has a very subtle taste so we kept it simple and sauteed the leaves like spinach, added them to some eggs, seasoned with salt and pepper and served with some crusty bread - delicious!