The Fat Of The Land – Foraging In Islington

As foodies know, what with NOMA and everything, foraging is all the rage. But can you actually forage food in the city, in a borough like Islington which is known for a shortage of green space? Apparently you can. I doubt very much whether you could survive by foraging alone and actually live off the fat of the land so to speak, but there is edible stuff out there, in the cracks of pavements (although with the number of dogs around, foraging on pavements might not be for me), in housing estates, parks, and community gardens. Wilderness centres such as Gillespie Park and community gardens such as the Olden Garden on Whistler Street, and King Henry’s Walk Garden in the Mildmay area are filled with berries and edible flowers and plants. Plants such as Dandelion and Elderflower, and many forms of cress, are found in abundance wherever you care to look.

I recently attended a guided talk on foraging at the hidden-away gem King Henry’s Walk Garden, given by Bob Gilbert, author of 'The Green London Way'. He identified many plants, generally discarded as weeds, which can be eaten. Whether you would actually want to is another matter and one I have yet to put to the test, but one or two were certainly very interesting. The common nettle can apparently be cooked like spinach (dock leaves too) and used to replace hops as a bittering agent in brewing. The blue flower of the Alkanet – known as “poor man’s henna” - can be used to decorate salads, as can a dog violet. The dandelion can be used in many ways – the leaves as a bitter addition to a salad, the flowers to make wine, and the roots can be dried and made into a coffee substitute, which by all accounts is revolting, so it's not clear why anyone would bother. Sloes can of course be made into Sloe Gin (although I prefer it straight myself). Wild herbs and forms of mint, including wild water-mint in ponds, are also abundant.

By far the most intruiging identification from a foodie perspective was ‘Jack By The Hedge’, or garlic mustard, a wild leaf with a very distinctive aroma and flavour of garlic (pictured right). I have since discovered that the internet is, predictably enough, full of recipes making use of this plant.

The next step for the budding forager will be to actually produce something from locally foraged material – and when I get there I will post more. This little post is just a few thoughts and musings on what is possible.

UPDATE 16/07/12: Anna Colquhoun has kindly pointed out that as Gillespie Park is on contaminated land it is inadvisable to pick leaves there, but berries should be fine. Anna is the author of Eat Slow Britain and runs Nordic cookery classes in Highbury, bookable via her website http://www.culinaryanthropologist.org.






King Henry's Walk Garden
11c King Henry's Walk
London N1 4NX