"Would anyone like more hogweed?” It’s not the normal question you hear over lunch but then again our meal at The Rewilding was anything but normal. It was far, far better than that. We were sitting in a barn with an open fire blazing away, the remains of a pot of venison gumbo gently stewing on top, and a pair of pineapples hanging above, roasting to perfection.
Wafting in were the calming bleats of sheep and their lambs, grazing on rambling Lancashire salt marsh beyond. Earlier that morning Rob Booth, our chef, had taken us out to find some tasty additions for the feast we were about to enjoy as part of a forage and lunch event organised by The Rewilding, which aims to connect people with nature from its base in Cockerham near Lancaster . Finds included lemony-tasting sorrel, garlic mustard – great for pesto – and nettles, good for preventing allergies.
We’d discovered that hawthorn berries boiled with tomatoes and onion made the perfect bacon butty ketchup – or better still, a Disaronno-style liqueur when steeped with sugar in gin or brandy. Rob had added some of our haul to his venison and sauteed our hogweed with butter and salt for a broccoli-style side. For dessert he’d ground sorrel with sugar and drizzled it over the warm pineapple.
The whole meal was absolute lip-smacking heaven, made all the more special by its freshness. “Foraging is the ultimate way to de-stress,” Rob enthused. “Once you start you’re always on the lookout, searching through .