a foray into spring foraging 🌱
cooking with two of Aotearoa's spring foraging best
A couple of weeks ago I mentioned the warm fuzzies I get with the arrival of spring. Now that we’re in the thick of it, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that spring is my favourite season. It has this brightness about it that seems to lift my spirit remarkably, and I feel the energy mirrored back; in strangers passing in the street, in the sun’s rays of longer days, and most noticeably, in the world of plants we live amongst.
Now I wouldn’t call myself a true forager ~ I dabble in the practice when the feeling strikes, but I don’t plan my diet around it. But foraging has been particularly present in my mind the past few weeks as I’ve been reading the standout memoir A Forager’s Life by New Zealand writer Helen Lehndorf ~ a beautifully written life story told through her enduring passion for wild food and foraging. I’m actually speaking with Helen and Fungi queen Liv Sisson in mid-October as part of the Dunedin Writers & Readers Festival ~ details of our panel discussion event can be found here. So this week’s newsletter is a brief introduction to some simple spring foraging.
One thing I’ve learnt is that if there’s a time for you to try your hand at foraging in Aotearoa, the time is always now! With every season, nature’s wild pantry has something to offer us, and spring sees many edible plants waving their colourful floral flags for all to see. Hopefully this week’s recipes will have you inspired to give foraging a go in your own local green spaces.
In the 100 metre radius from my front door, edible tulips and poppies are out in full bloom, painting the streets with their brilliance and into my heart. Even the dianthus (one of my favourite edible flowers for decorating cakes) on my deck, dormant through winter, have resurrected with pops of perky pastel pink and magenta. We often compartmentalise flowers into an ornamental box in our minds - too pretty to eat. But edible flowers have so much goodness to offer our bodies and minds, beyond their visual and olfactory appeal. Calendula, pansies, carnations, nasturtium, cornflowers, snap dragons… all edible, and all with distinctive tastes. Here’s a relatively comprehensive list of edible flowers to get you started.
One particularly special edible flower is the magnolia. Yes! Magnolia flowers are edible! Something I was reminded of when reading a recent author interview with NZ food writer Bri DiMattina (who recently published the beautiful cookbook Nostrana, which includes a recipe for magnolia jam). In Ōtepoti/Dunedin at the moment, the city streets are studded with large umbrellas of pink and white as the magnolia trees are in full bloom. With spring winds picking up, petals are being strewn on the pavement, perfect for foraging, and meaning you avoid getting caught jumping the neighbour’s fence to collect them. Magnolia petals have a lovely floral and lightly spiced, almost gingery flavour. Like most edible things, you can eat them raw, but I prefer to let them steep in water, often sweetened, to allow their delicious flavour to infuse into the liquid. So once you’ve collected those magnolia petals, start by trying my recipe for a quick Magnolia Petal Syrup ~ great with sparkling/soda water for a refreshing floral drink, use as a base in cocktails, pour over ice cream, or use as a soaking syrup for cakes (among many other uses!):
Magnolia Petal Syrup
300g caster sugar
300ml water
100g magnolia flower petals
freshly squeezed juice of ½ lemon
Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Slowly bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and gently simmer uncovered for 20 minutes, until reduced to a runny syrup consistency. Strain through a sieve into a sterilised glass bottle or jar, pressing the petals with the back of a spoon to extract all of the syrup from them. Store in the refrigerator.
While magnolia petals are bringing foraged sweetness at this time of year, a favourite savoury spring edible is currently at peak prolificness. Onion Weed, not to be confused with related Wild Onion or Wild Garlic, is a grass-like perennial that springs into life (pun intended) from its dormancy around September, identifiable by its white drooping bell-shaped flowers that can be found blooming in public parks and garden beds abound. Onion Weed can be treated like spring onion in cooking ~ the bulb, stem and flowers are all edible and carry a flavour similar to onion/garlic (hence the name). Perfect for tossing through stir-frys, blitzing into pesto, using as a base for soups/pastas, mixing into fritters, or coating in a tempura batter to quickly fry. My absolute favourite way to use Onion Weed is in bhajis, the Indian snack food made using chickpea (besan) flour. So I present to you my killer recipe for Wild onion weed bhajis with date, soy + tamarind chutney. Perfect for a forager's feast, these bhajis, that utilise springtime wild onion weed, are crispy, crunchy, garlicky and all things delicious. Paired with a punchy tamarind sauce that's boosted with date sweetness and umami soy, they’re snacking food at its finest.
Below in this week’s mood booster, you’ll find another excellent recipe that utilises the humble onion weed, as part of a versatile pesto-like paste (with some Sichuan pepper for added mouth-tingling fun!). So put down that bunch of spring onions you have in your hand at PAK’nSave, and go outside and harvest that onion weed that nature is begging you to cook with ~ you won’t regret it!
Happy foraging.
Much love,
Alby xx
This week’s MOOD BOOSTER:
Wild onion weed Sichuan pancakes
A riff on the famous Cong you bing, Chinese savoury spring onion pancakes, this recipe sees wild onion weed used instead to create a delicious paste made with sesame oil and Sichuan pepper, stuffed into layered crispy pancakes. With a cracking dipping sauce to match, this is a great way to make the most of onion weed season. You will have some of the onion weed Sichuan filling leftover - it’s great tossed through stir-fried noodles and spring vegetables, with a generous splash of soy sauce.
Makes 4 pancakes
Ingredients:
Pancake dough
250g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp sea salt
1 tbsp sesame oil
150ml boiling water
2 tbsp canola oil, for frying
Wild onion weed Sichuan filling
200g wild onion weeds (about 8), ends trimmed, roughly chopped
100g pumpkin seeds
1 medium handful coriander leaves
2 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger
1 tbsp capers
2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns, ground with a mortar and pestle
50ml sesame oil
50ml canola oil
freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon
Dipping sauce
2 tbsp Wild onion weed Sichuan filling
3 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp maple syrup
ground chilli, to taste
Method:
To make the dough, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the sesame oil and boiling water and mix together to form a soft dough. Knead for two minutes, then cover and set aside for 20 minutes to rest.
For the filling*, place all ingredients in a food processor and blitz until a chunky pesto-like filling is reached.
To make the pancakes, divide the dough into four parts. Lightly grease a work surface and rolling pin with oil. Take one piece of dough and roll out into a thin rectangle, approx. 25cm x 30cm. Spoon 1 tbsp of the filling onto the dough and spread out with the back of a spoon to cover evenly. With the shorter side facing towards you, roll the dough up into a thin log, then curl the log to form a spiral (or snail-like) shape, tucking the end underneath the spiral. Gently press with your hands and roll with the rolling pin to flatten into a circle, about 12cm in diameter and 1cm thick. Don’t worry if some of the filling spills out - this is completely normal (the pancake doesn’t need to look perfect, it’s meant to be a little messy). Set aside and repeat with the three remaining pieces of dough to form 4 flattened spiral pancakes.
To cook the pancakes, place the 2 tbsp canola oil in a large lidded frying pan over medium heat. Once hot, cook the pancakes one at a time, covered with a lid, for 2 minutes on each side (remove the lid to flip the pancake then return the lid to finish cooking), until golden brown and crispy. Swirl the pan in between cooking each pancake to ensure the base is coated in oil.
To serve, make your dipping sauce in a bowl by combining 2 tbsp of the remaining filling with the other dipping sauce ingredients. Adjust to taste with ground chilli to your heat preference. Serve the pancakes warm, with the dipping sauce alongside.
*Note: you will have a decent amount of leftover filling. This is great to throw into stir-frys, spread on toast, stirred through rice etc. Store in an airtight jar/container and refrigerate for up to 1 week.
Best of the season this fortnight (NZ):
Brassicas
Spinach, Salad Greens
Kale
Grapefruit
Avocados
Early Broad Beans
Beetroot
Onion Weed
Kitchen music of the moment:
I’ve previously shared my like of Phoebe Bridgers, and this past week has seen me listening to her latest supergroup project (by latest I mean since 2018) Boygenius, a collaboration with Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus. Their first fully realised album, the record, was released earlier this year, and I’ve been especially addicted to the track Not Strong Enough ~ listen below.
Since their Eurovision win in 2021, Italian band Maneskin have been lighting up the global music scene with their mix of pop/rock/glam and appealing aesthetic. Their latest track, Honey (Are You Coming) is full of the energy that we need right now.
Interesting reads:
Kiwi food waste a growing concern
An easily digestible online resource with tips for reducing your food waste
Spring foraging ideas from Wild Dispensary
Spring really is the best season (at least someone agrees with me)
