Origins of Wild Chimichurri

Wild chimichurri sauce is believed to have originated in Argentina and Uruguay in the 19th century, where it was traditionally served with grilled meats, specifically asado (a type of barbecue). The name “chimichurri” is thought to have come from the Basque word “tximitxurri,” which means “a mixture of several things in no particular order.”

Different Ways of Making Wild Chimichurri

Wild chimichurri is a simple sauce that can be made with just a few ingredients. However, there are many variations of chimichurri, and the recipe can vary depending on the region and personal preference. The basic ingredients of chimichurri include fresh parsley, garlic, vinegar, and oil. Some recipes also include fresh oregano, red pepper flakes, or lemon juice.

This is the perfect thing to chuck a vast range of different wild ingredients, which will give it its’ own unique flavour depending on where you are in the country.

Here’s a recipe for wild chimichurri:

There’s a multitude of ways to make this but we’ll stick with one of my favourites

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh parsley leaves, packed
• 1 tablespoon blended wild garlic
• 8 tops of nettle blended
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 cup wild arugula leaves

Instructions:

1. Finely chop the parsley, garlic, and wild arugula leaves, and place them in a medium-sized bowl.
2. Add the red wine vinegar, olive oil, oregano, salt, and black pepper. Mix well.
3. Cover the bowl and let it sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Cultural Significance of Chimichurri

Chimichurri is an important part of Argentinean culture, and it is often served with asado (barbecue). In Argentina, asado is not just a meal, it’s a social event that brings together friends and family. Chimichurri is an essential component of the asado experience and is often used as a condiment to enhance the flavor of the grilled meats.

Chimichurri has also gained popularity outside of Argentina and is now a popular sauce in many other countries, including the United States. It’s a healthy alternative to other condiments, such as ketchup or mayo, and is packed with flavor.

In conclusion, wild chimichurri is a delicious Argentinean sauce that is easy to make and adds flavor to any dish. It has a rich history and cultural significance in Argentina, where it is a staple at asados. Whether you use it as a marinade, topping, or dipping sauce, it’s a versatile and tasty addition to any meal.

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Edible flowers are Such a beautiful, nutritious and waste-free way to add vibrant colour to your recipes.

In theory you can use any edible flower for this purpose, even wild garlic flowers – which may give youa very interesting final flavour (although I have heard of people making ice cream with the stuff, which sounds mental to me – so who knows, maybe it would work)

However here are some of our favourite flowers to this with are:

• Primroses,
• Cowslip
• Cherry blossom,
• Hawthorn blossom,
• Dead nettles,
• Ground ivy,
• Dandelions,
• Daisies,
• Forget me not,
• Sweet violets,
• Gorse and many more….

What You’ll need for Crystalising Edible Flowers …

• Edible flowers and small leaves of your choice
• Granulated sugar
• Egg white or chickpea water (vg)
• A paint brush
• Parchment paper

Method…

1. Do each flower one at a time:
2. paint your flower in the egg white/ chickpea water so they are covered but not soggy and will keep their shape.

   

3. Sprinkle over granulated sugar on the face and underside.
4. Place face down on parchment paper ( I find this helps with keeping the shape as best as possible)
5. Leave to air for about 2 days until crisp dry.
6. These can then be stored in an airtight container for a couple of months.
7. Pop them onto cakes, desserts or anything you want to look and taste incredible –
8. here’s ours on top of some nettle cupcakes…

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Common names

Cows Parsley/ Wild Chervil

Botanical Name

Anthriscus Sylvestris 

Video

Known Hazards

Misidentification with poison hemlock which is harmful to mammals.

Could be confused with

There’s a couple of deadly toxic plants within this family and as you begin to start foraging they can look quite similar so time must always be taken to learn them all before picking any of them.

Fools parsley (Aethusa cynapium), has much thinner leaves that a little more dill like than parsley like

Poison hemlock, Has darker more shiny leaves, and has red blotches all over the stems

Hemlock water dropwort has much more of a corriander type leaf shape and is found growing by streams, the roots of hemlock water dropwort are known as dead man’s fingers as you typically get 5 roots growing together – they look a bit like a bunch of bananas.

Range and Distribution

Found in most of Europe, including Britain, south and east to N. Africa and Siberia. 

Habitat

Common in hedgerows and verges. 

Physical Characteristics

Leaves

Starting off as a rosette of long stems that are celery shaped with small hairs going up to opposite pairs of feather-like leaves. As it matures it sends up a rounded, ribbed and hairy.

Stems

The stems never have purple spots but can have purple blocks of colour usually starting from the base these purple colourations fade and don’t look like blotches or birthmarks. The stems are very celery like and have a ridge/ groove running up the centre of them.

Flowers

The flowers grow in umbels, this looks like the spokes of an umbrella branching out from the tall stem with a cluster of flowers at the end of each spoke. The flowers are small with a creamy centre and 5 unevenly sized petals (a bit like a flower a child would draw).

Seeds

The seeds are in place of each flower head so are clustered each seed is a long tear drop shape and they’re in pairs so it looks a bit like a deer footprint.

Smell & Taste

This plant has a faint parsley-like smell especially when crushed, the leaves and stem have a parsley-like flavour and the flowers and seeds having a carroty flavour.

Folklore, tall tales, and not so folklore

The stems throughout history have been used by children as pea shooters. 
It is said that it is unlucky to have cow parsley inside the house and that it is the harbinger of death. 

Edible Use

The whole of the plant is edible, the leaves, stems and flowers are great in salads or used as a pot herb to flavour soups, pestos and stews etc. The seeds are great ground and added to curries or rice to flavour. The roots can also be cooked like a carrot. 

Herbal

The roots can be made into a tonic to help weakness.

Miscellaneous

Be careful when harvesting cow parsley as it can grow in the same habitat as poison hemlock and sometimes growing together so  be sure to check every stem you pick for the celery shaped hairy stem that has no spots.

The post Cows Parsley (Anthriscus Sylvestris) Identification appeared first on .

Flatbread is such a good way to use your foraged greens and herbs. It’s easy to make, requires barely any kneading or rising time and is perfect with any combination of fresh greens and herbs! I used three-cornered leek, ground ivy and chickweed. 

I’ve titled this piece to be a Wild Garlic Flatbread, however we’ll cover a really nice bunch of other wild ingredients, herbs and flavours that work incredibly well in it. 

Honestly, the sky is the limit with this one!

See our Wild Garlic Flatbread Recipe Video Here

Ingredients

• 200 g self-raising flour plus extra for dusting
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 200 g natural yoghurt
• A Big handful of chopped, foraged herbs.. think mugwort, ground ivy, wild garlic, garlic mustard, yarrow, cows parsles

Method for Cooking our Wild Garlic Flatbread

1. Simply mix up all your ingredients and knead for a minute to bring them together. Divide your dough into 6 pieces and roll them out until they’re a few mm thick. Score your breads down the center around 6 times (this helps them not puff too much and gives your herby butter somewhere to sit!).
2. Then, pop them onto a hot skillet for a few minutes on each side until browned and slightly puffed!
3. I also chopped up some of the herbs and melted with some butter to spread over the flatbreads for extra shine and flavour!

Recipe by @foragedbyfern

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So it’s that time of year where I see so many ID requests for cow parsley (or as some call it Wild Chervil).

when I first started foraging my guide books told me all about the wonders of the stuff, great as a parsley substitute and can be used in almost everything from salads to soups and stews as a pot herb flavouring. 

Sam Webster

Often those books don’t tell you this plant has an almost identical and very deadly look-alike! A nibble of hemlock and you could end up in hospital fighting for your life. Hemlock contains toxic alkaloids which affect your nervous system stopping essential organs working until eventually, your lungs stop working and you suffocate. Scary stuff but this is why it’s so important to be confident and certain with these two plants. 

Thankfully there are a few ways to tell them apart, but you really have to look closely at each plant, it took me quite a while to be happy that I had cow parsley and not hemlock, so don’t worry if you not confident picking cow parsley for a long time it is an advanced forager plant. 

So what are the differences between Cows Parsley and Poison Hemlock?

Well, it’s quite simple really: spotty and bald is bad! If you remember this little rule then that’s a great place to start.

Hemlock has purple spots on the stems (though young shoots often have very faint spots so it’s not always a reliable feature) and the stems are also hairless, they’re smooth, rounded and quite flexible until the flower stem is fully grown. The stems are also hollow and the plant (especially when you break a bit off) has an unpleasant chemical-like smell to it. 

Cow parsley stems are hairy (and ribbed if it’s the flower stem) and it’s quite rigid. Where it’s easiest to tell the two apart is the leaf stem, cow parsley is celery shaped, if you look down a cross-section of the stems there’s only a small hole, (so if it would make a good pea shooter it’s more likely you’ve got a stick of hemlock!) the smell of cow parsley is much nicer too, living up to its name and having a mild parsley smell to it! 

The leaves and flowers for both are almost identical so unless you’re a pro and know what you’re looking for go to the stems for your identification. There are some differences between the seeds, cow parsley seeds are straight, black and have a similar shape to a deer hoof print, hemlock the seeds are more curled and a lighter colour than cow parsley, they are also ribbed. 

Cow parsley 

hairy celery-shaped leaf stem

Hairy spot-free ribbed stem

How about a Quick Cows Parsley Video?

Poison Hemlock 

Rounded spotted, smooth and hair-free stems 

Young hemlock stems, spots are not yet showing but the stems are rounded and hairless

How about a quick Poison Hemlock Video

Conclusion

So there we have it, the key differences between the edible and ever so common Cows Parsley and the deadly toxic lookalike that is Poison Hemlock.

We’ve outlined the key differences between the two and as always make sure you’re 100% certain before picking anything to eat.

Happy Foraging

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