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Sheffield is a wonderful city for those who enjoy foraging for wild food. In the many ancient woods, river valleys and open spaces (even the cemeteries!) plants and fungi abound. On top of this the nearby moorlands provide an ample supply of Bilberries from July through to September. In Spring the aniseed smelling leaves of Sweet Cicely (a Cow Parsley look-a-like) add sweetness and flavour to stewed Apple or Rhubarb and leaves from the garlic-scented Ramsons are wonderful in salad, quite apart from helping to prevent the furring up of our arteries. A little later the flowers of Pignut mark the position of the tasty underground corms – the nuts gathered in May by the nursery rhyme children. At the same time the flour-scented edible St George's Mushroom emerges on playing fields and woodland edges, often in fairy rings. Wasteland provides the leafy Chickweed as a useful salad alternative and Common Sorrel (a relative of Rhubarb) makes an excellent soup. By mid-Summer the Elder flowers are just waiting to be turned into fritters or cordial or a very fizzy 'champagne'. Sheffield is blessed with many Lime trees, the flowers of which make a herb tea that alleviates the symptoms of cold and flu ‚ a very green medicine. Late Summer and Autumn are the most fruitful times in Sheffield. There is plenty to be had with a choice of wild Raspberries, Blackberries and Sweet Chestnuts (frequent in many of our woodlands) not forgetting the sloes to flavour the gin! Best of all are the wild fungi ‚ the mauve-gilled Wood Blewit (still sold in some local markets), Oyster Mushrooms on fallen trunks and the wonderful sponge-like Cep that makes a fine addition to any pasta dish. Sheffield also has a number of first-rate hospitals and they are already busy enough without having to cope with people who have poisoned themselves by eating the wrong plant or the wrong mushroom. Accurate identification is essential – local organisations such as the Workers Educational Association (WEA), and Sheffield University run courses on plant and fungal identification. The most famous book on the subject is Food for Free by Richard Mabey (HarperCollins) but better still is Wild Food by Roger Phillips (Pan - out of print?). As for eating fungi try How to Identify Edible Mushrooms written by two of Sheffield's mycologists, Patrick Harding and Tony Lyon (HarperCollins). Good eating! Patrick Harding |