Food from the Wild

Roots

Cuckoo-pint Arum maculatum

Although every part of the cuckoo-pint which grows above ground is poisonous, below, the small, potato­like root is perfectly edible. Full of nutritious starch it makes a good vegetable. After digging, the root should first be allowed to dry out before being cooked by boiling or baking.

Portland sago or Portland arrowroot was made from the dried ground roots of cuckoo-pint. A southern woodland plant, the leaves, often spotted. appear in January followed by the yellow spadix in May. The suggestive shape of the latter led to the idea that the plant had aphrodisiac qualities. 'They have eaten so much Wake Robin' (as cuckoo-pint used to be known) 'that they cannot sleep for love' wrote John Lyly in his play Loves Metamorphosis in 1601.

Dandelion Taraxacum officinale

The best known way of eating the roots is as dandelion coffee. This is a non-caffeinated coffee which tastes surprisingly like the real thing. The roots should be dug in autumn, washed (laying them in a string bag under running water is an easy way) then dried, roasted in the oven and finally ground. To make coffee simply put some of the grounds in a jug, pour on boiling water, allow to stand for a few minutes and pour out through a strainer.

To eat dandelion roots as a vegetable, dig and wash, then peel and scrub them to remove the skin, after which boil them whole in water to which some vinegar has been added, then reboil them in clean water with more vinegar. They are slightly bitter but quite nice to eat. The Japanese treat them differently; first they chop the roots very thinly into rings, then fry them in a little oil, add some water, cover the pan and allow them to simmer until tender.

Earthnut

The small, edible bulbs lie 5-7cm (2-3in) below ground attached to their green ferny leaves and white umbels by a white, thread-like stem. This has to be followed carefully underground- it breaks easily-to its root source. The small, nutty-tasting bulb is then unearthed, scraped and cleaned before eating. The best instrument to use for this operation is a penknife, though Caliban in The Tempest used his finger-nails. Nicest raw, earthnuts may also be boiled, baked or put in soups and stews.

Horse-radish Armoracia rusticana

Introduced into the UK in the sixteenth century, probably from Germany, it was initially eaten as a cure for worms and coughs. But by 1597 its fame as a sauce had reached Gerard who remarked that it 'is commonly used among the Germans for sauce to eate fish with and such like meates as we do mustarde'; and by 1657 a taste for the sauce had gained ground here because Cole states that 'the root, sliced thin an mixed with vinegar is eaten as a sauce with meat, as among the Germans'. The yellow tap-root may be traced by its docklike leaves and spike of white cruciferous flowers in May and June.

Silverweed Potentilla anserina

The roots, tasting like parsnips, can be dried and milled into flour, coarsely ground and made into porridge, eaten raw, boiled, baked or added to soups and stews. Until the advent of potatoes, silverweed roots formed a vital part of the diet of people living in the more northerly, upland areas of Britain, particularly the Hebrides where they are said to have been cultivated as a crop.

It must have been hard work, silverweed roots are small and awkward to dig. There would have been no difficulty in finding them, however, as the yellow flowers and grey-green, cut-edged leaves grow anywhere up to a height of 526m (1,400ft). Silverweed has an insidious, creeping, rootstock and blooms from May to August.