Jelly Ears

Name: Jelly Ears, Jews Ears and more.

Location: On Dead Trees particularly Elder

Months: All Year Round

Edible Parts: All of the Mushroom

Non-Edible Parts: None

As you can see on this particular foraging trip we also found a variety of other goodies (a big field mushroom and around 2kg of sweet chestnuts). However, I’ll discuss those treats separately, for now I chose this picture but it shows very clearly what jelly ears can look like when very big! However, they look quite different when young:

Identification

Cup shaped when young resembling an ear
Rubbery/gelatinous texture
red brown colouring
Inner surface smooth and shiny, scurfy outer surface matte

Beware Of

Some of the cup fungi are inedible, distinguished by their brittle flesh (as opposed to gelatinous) and they grow on soil. If it’s not a tree, leave it be! (Please DO NOT apply this rhyme to all mushrooms… just the jelly ears).

Sweet Chestnut Soup

Ingredients

A knob of butter
• 2 onions, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely sliced
• 1 large potato, diced
• 400g sweet chestnuts
• 1–1.2 litres vegetable stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 150–200ml single cream

Method

Gently fry the garlic, onions and butter in a saucepan until golden brown.
Then add the chestnuts, potato, stock and bay.
When the potato is soft remove the bay and blitz.
Stir in ream and adjust seasoning to your taste.

Roasting Sweet Chestnuts Recipe

Ingredients

As many Viable Sweet Chestnuts as possible/according to your needs

Method

Cut a cross in the top of each chestnut.

Pre-heat the oven to at least 200 degrees C.
Place chestnuts scattered out evenly on a baking Tray

Bake for 30 minutes.

These are best eaten while still warm so be careful and remove the outer hard shell first.

Foraging Sweet Chestnuts

Name: Sweet Chestnuts

Location: Under Sweet Chestnut Trees

Months: October

Edible Parts: Inside the shell including skin

Non-Edible Parts: Everything else

We foraged around 2.2kg of sweet chestnuts in one hour today and there are stil plenty more to be had. The special thing about sweet chestnuts is not only are they packed full of goodness but they are only viable every few years. Not every crop of Chestnuts will be ripe every year. If the chestnut is soft, and small and flat/angular in appearance they are not ready for eating. You may go some years without seeing any viable chestnuts. That’ why as soon as we saw good chestnuts this year, we went crazy collecting as many as possible for our snacks and Christmas of course!

Sweet Chestnuts don’t taste great raw, although they can be eaten this way. Don’t be put off if you try them raw, get these bad boys roasted and then try them to avoid disappointment.

Rosehips

Last Sunday we went foraging in Birmingham for Rosehips. I’ll warn you now, wear gloves or suffer a thorny death!

Name: Rosehip (Dogrose)

Location: Everywhere

Months: September, October, November

Edible Parts: Bletched Fruit

Non-Edible Parts: Everything else

The rosehip pictured also includes japanese rosehip (the big rounder looking ones). They should only be picked when plump and juicy, if they are not squishing when you pick them, they are not ready to be picked. I will be making Rosehip Syrup and Rosehip wine with these little wonders this year so that means a lot of foraging and a lot of thorns in my fingers.

If the rosehip recipe proves successful it will be posted in approximately 8 weeks time so stay tuned. The syrup recipe will be updated later on this week.

Sloe Gin

While we harvested these Sloe’s a little on the early side, they still make a great Sloe Gin recipe. If you have an alcohol cupboard with half a bottle of Gin in it not going anywhere fast, this is a great and delicious way of sprucing up the Gin ready for Christmas. This is a classic and well respected drink for the worldly gentleman (apparently).

We found these Sloe’s in a small tucked away little over grown area by a Canal. It was a pleasant surprise and instantly I thought of Sloe Gin. If you were to buy these bad boys you’d end up paying a pretty penny, so make sure you take advantage of this foraged treat as they are relatively easy to find in Birmingham and the UK.

Name: Sloes

Location: Anywhere

Months: August, September, October

Edible Parts: Fruit

Non-Edible Parts: Everything Else

The fruit is bluish and powdery on the skin. It won’t taste nice as it is, and it’s best picked late on in the year when the fruit begins to Bletch. The plant is thorny so be careful when picking!

Sloe Gin Recipe

1/2 Bottle Gin

1/4 Bottle Sloes

1/8 Bottle Sugar

Easy! Prick the sloes and pop them carefully into the Gin bottle. Pour in the sugar and replace the cap. Store in a cool dark place and shake the bottle every so often – whenever you remember. The sugar will slowly dissolve and the Gin will turn a gorgeous red. Leave for roughly 6 months but can be sampled earlier if you need. This makes a beautiful fruity syrup liqueur.