At this time of the year we are excited to see what is growing that is edible and we are adventurous enough to try something new. Today it was Alexander’s, Hogweed and Crows garlic.
Having scrutinised our books and watched videos to identify what we were picking we came home with these goodies.
Thoroughly washed and strained, I put them aside while I prepared some stir fried vegetables of baby corn, mange tout, mushrooms, bamboo shoots and water chestnuts. I threw some chopped up crows garlic and coriander in too. These were wok fried in sesame oil and a little butter and then set aside. I dropped the greens into salted boiling water for around 5 minutes. These were then drained and wok fried in butter and olive oil with a sprinkle of salt.
The same with a few hogweed shoots.
A very interesting aroma and flavour similar to that of lovage. The flower heads were more pungent than the leaves. Nature really does offer amazing gifts at this time of the year!
Karima Rebecca Powell Artist 