grow, find, cook, eat.
Ever thought of a voucher for a wild Food Walk…..I did.
We will be full of the joys this coming Spring, and will commence our walks as soon as the weather allows….fresh seaweed will be ready and the earth will be warming up so give some-one the gift of the great out-doors and join us to find the hidden treasures on our doorsteps.
Bunch of Haws
Got a phone call from Niall Martin from Nationwide a few weeks ago, to say he was going to be in Clare, visiting a few places and highlighting the fact that Loophead had been awarded best place to holiday in Ireland, by readers of the Irish Times, and could I take him on a Wild Food Walk?
Well say’s I ”I suppose I can squeeze you in”…jokingly, trying to contain my excitement.
I had a weeks notice, what to wear, where to bring him and I was asked to cook two desserts using wild food……… to accompany the Bar-b-Que, at Purecamping Eco.campsite the following day. No bother……..
The day for filming dawned, and clad with tweed trousers and a sensible jacket and an air of relative calm, I set off to discuss plans for the day over coffee in the cosy Oh Lá Lá Café, in Ennistymon.
It wasn’t long before I felt at ease, such was the professionalism of Niall and his camera man, and before we knew it we were off down the Falls, chatting like old friends.
We scrambled over the rocks like kids at Cregg Beach, the remnants of the West Clare Railway, behind us. Water mint, Orache and Sea beet ours for the taking. Then we made our way to the country lanes near my home, beloved now for more than twenty years. The hedgerows, bending with hips, haws and berries.
I was so happy to walk these roads and share the beauty of Autumn, on what the team called a perfect day for filming. Niall knows a thing or two about wild food, and gave a lovely recipe for Sloe Gin…sadly we had none to taste, it’s working it’s magic under the stairs…..Grateful for the opportunity, a day to remember, thanks guys.
You can catch it here…
http://www.rte.ie/news/player/nationwide/2013/1011/
As guiding Seaweed walks is what I do also, we spent an hour or so filming at the shore after lunch at Barrtra Seafood Restaurant. A lively discussion on fracking ensued and a chat on seaweed, it’s uses and more tasting of some wild food dishes I put together, but that will have to wait for Spring, to be aired, I’m promised.
Carrageen and Lemon Blanch mange
Autumn Pudding
The two puddings I managed to put together for the programme.
Salted Peanut Praliné centre
You know when you bite into something, and instantly you are transported back to another time, a food memory……a taste memory………a special link that connects your life.
It happened to me recently when I was the recipient of some
Magic Mayan Chocolate.
That memory was the taste of crushed peanuts, sprinkled on an ice-cream, bought from the eagerly awaited ice-cream van, in a leafy suburb of London in the early 70′s…a warm, happy memory.
That food memory was awakened last week, when my teeth sank into the Salted Peanut Pralinés, (one of many flavours), Matthew and Co. make in Kilfenora, Co.Clare. Dense, divine, salty, and that nutty taste
that turned back the clock.
This chocolate ticks all the boxes, as you can see from the oh so natural ingredients, handmade with organic super foods, it’s good for you, check the link to find out why…
www.magicmayanchocolate.com
I got my hands on the Salted Pralinés, and the Crazy Caramel bar.
I hid them from my kids, this chocolate was all mine. I have never tasted chocolate so fine before. A ”COMPLETE” taste experience,
Chocolate for the soul……
It comes in loads of flavours, is available in Health Food shops and Café’s locally, give it as a gift, for Halloween, because it’s raining.
Just find an excuse, get your hands on it, soon.
”Crazy Caramel” centre
Burren Fields
Young and old gathered to walk with me through the Burren, magic………..
We had a great day, the weather, despite it’s self, cleared, as we approached the Mountain that is Mullaghmore……shrouded in mist, majestic, ancient, sacred.
And out of no-where the hunter gatherers drew in to join me on a wild food walk beneath this special mountain……thanks to you all and there were many, young and old, some traveling from as far away as Clifden in Co.Galway.
Wild Oregano, Sorrel, Hazel nuts and all sorts of berries were ours, though we just sample foraged, we came across over 20 wild edible plants….the mild Autumn in our favour, frogs leaped all over the place, various strange looking Fungi met us at every turn, a new Lichen presented it’s self to us to and some new plants, such is the diversity of the Burren. So many things to say, lots of idea’s and recipe swopping, met artisan food producers, farmers and students, all eager to learn about what’s on offer, wild and free. We spent precious time at one with the unique countryside of this fertile rock.
The crowd gathers
Into the wild
Hazelnut stories
The Wild Atlantic Way, will be Ireland’s first long distance driving route,stretching from the Inishowen Peninsula in Donegal to Kinsale in Co.Cork, offering future visitors an opportunity to truly discover the west coast.
The 2,500.00km final route consisting of the main spine of the of the Wild Atlantic Way, was finalised following a comprehensive public consultation process and 156 strategically placed discovery points have been identified along the way.
As it happens my WILDKITCHEN, is on the WAW…………..yehaw.
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