Sailor Stew

I was riding in my car one day and saw a mass of people coming out of a factory, punching time clocks, and was overwhelmed with the knowledge that the theme note of modern times is mass production. I wondered what would happen to the progress of the mechanical age if one person decided to act like a bull in a china shop‌ I decided it would make a good story to take a little man and make him thumb his nose at all recognized rules and conventions. — Charlie Chaplin, 1936 New York Times interview

TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S

1

Foreword

3

Table of Contents

4

Reef Encounter

12

Marta Hanson

18

Housing, Sailing Vessels, Survival...

26

The Gourmet Forager

40

Sprouting

42

Buying In Bulk

46

Acknowledgements

REEF ENCOUNTER

5 DEPARTMENTALS

ON JUNE 16, 2005 AT 3:30AM, THE SAILING TRIMARAN CHOUPIQUE STRUCK THE REEF JUST SOUTH OF XCALAK, MEXICO, JUST INSIDE THE BELIZEAN BORDER. THE FOLLOWING IS A REPRINT OF A LETTER SENTTOTHE AMERICAN CONSULATE IN MERIDA, MEXICO DETAILING THE EVENTS BEFORE AND AFTERTHE INCIDENT.

THURS, 16 JUNE ’05

By: Bob Smith Ms. Maureen Smith American Consulate Office Merida, Mexico Dear Mrs. Smith, Thanks again for your prompt reply, but there seems to be a misunderstanding concerning the logistics of the rescue. I have always kept a daily log on my boat and I would like to share this information with you, directly as it was entered on a daily basis:

3:30 AM: The sailing trimaran CHOUPIQUE struck the reef just south of Xcalak, Mexico, just inside Belize border.

3:40 AM: Called for assistance to anyone within the sound of my voice (at this point I knew I was near the border but not sure of my exact position).

3:45 AM: Xcalak Captain of the Port answered and informed me that help was on the way.

4:30 AM: Two pangas (boats) appeared, one with a Mexican Park Ranger and the Port Captain on board and one Mexican Navy boat with approx. 6 sailors aboard.

5:30 AM: Park Ranger attempted to pull the boat off, unsuccessful.

6:30 AM: Navy panga was in process of taking me off the reef.

7:00 AM: Both Mexican boats were told by a Belize Park ranger to leave Belizean waters and that a larger Belizean boat was on it’s way to the scene. No boat of any kind showed up that day.

7 DEPARTMENTALS

FRI, 17 JUNE ‘05

SAT, 18 JUNE ‘05

No help came.

No help came today.

VHF radio failed (submerged batteries).

I salvaged one of my boat batteries and re-activated my VHF radio.

Belizean Park Rangers came out to inspect damage to coral.

Damage to boat getting steadily worse from the constant pounding of the surf.

Found minimal damage to reef (mostly fire coral).

Radioed my son-in-law in San Pedro and asked

Also found minimal damage to the boat.

him to try to locate the proper officials and request help, he was un-successful in doing so.

I also made an underwater assessment along with the park divers and found only one hole, a cut about 8 inches long that could easily be repaired while boat was in the water, but boat had to be removed from reef first and quickly.

9

Still no help arrived.

DEPARTMENTALS

SUN 19-JUNE ‘05

MON, 20 JUNE ‘05 Damage to boat getting progressively worse.

Began calling on VHF for anybody within sound of my voice.

Xcalak Captain of Port answered and informed me again that he was told to stay out of Belizean waters and that he could do nothing.

I received several calls from Cliff Evans (Xcalak) who had been on the radio continuously trying to get me some help. As well as Steve from XTC dive shop (Xcalak).

Son-in-law and daughter from Tulsa and two friends also from Tulsa finally hired a fisherman to bring them to the site, we worked all afternoon

I arrived at Navy base at daybreak (6:00AM

trying to shift the boat away from the direct

approx.). The Navy Commandant graciously put

pounding of the surf using my (3) anchors,

me in a Navy vehicle and took me to the Port

helped a little.

Captains office.

They left around 5:00 PM.

I finally locate a private boat captain that agrees to take me out to get my personal belongings.

At approximately 9:00 PM a large hole appeared in starboard side of main hull (result of 5 days of

We arrived at the boat at 3:00PM to find that

constant racking and pounding from the surf ).

the boat had been completely ransacked. There was nothing left but the bare mast and the diesel

It was obviously time for me to leave!!

and clothing etc. scattered around. I estimate that

The weather was worsening.

from first light until I got back to the boat, approx 8-9 hours had elapsed, the time the Belizeans had

In the process of launching my dingy I lost

to strip the boat.

my fuel tank overboard and it was blown into the darkness and out of sight, so I began

A couple days later a Belizean (with several of his

rowing. I estimate the time to be about

buddies) came to see me and offered to sell my

10PM when I started rowing. I headed for

Passport (taken from my boat) back to me for 750

the Mexican Navy base, the nearest land

pesos. I had no choice but to make the purchase.

other than mangroves.

A few days later when I was arranging to head

south by bus the Mexican Port Captain came to inform me “not to cross the Belize border,” The

11

Belizeans had issued an order to confiscate my $6000 USD for damage to the reef.

Note: around 21 June, the Belize Diplomatic Office in Washington DC issued a bulletin that said the Belizeans had in fact rescued me and my boat from the reef on June 20!

EVER TRIED TO COLLECT INSURANCE ON A SUNKEN BOAT THAT HAS BEEN OFFICIALLY AND SUCCESSFULLY RESCUED

BY THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND VERIFIED BY YOUR OWN AMERICAN CONSULATE?

Bob is currently re-fitting his new boat “Defiance” a 31’ Friendship Sloop in the Rio Dulce, Guatemala. He stays away from Belize.

DEPARTMENTALS

passport and hold me under arrest and fine me

MARTA HANSON: BALTIMORE’S URBAN FORAGER

13 DEPARTMENTALS

INTERVIEWED BY: RIVKAH KHANIN

Barberries

I WA S L O O K I N G T O D O S O M E T H I N G NO N - AC A D E M I C A N D N O N -PERSONAL

RIVKAH KHANINMarta, when did you start foraging?

15

MARTA HANSON-

DEPARTMENTALS

My father and I used to go hiking together in the Minnesota woods, and he introduced me to the refreshing taste of wintergreen leaves. I remember him making dandelion and mulberry wine. I foraged since I was a child; my mother and grandmother took me with them to secret blueberry patches where we’d fill buckets to the brim. My grandpa hunted, on holidays he’d bring Pine, Barberries, Gingko, Rosehip

in a deer. He also processed leather himself.

RKThat’s really lovely, childhoods like yours are unfortunately becoming much rarer. How did you find yourself in Baltimore, and what has your experience with foraging been like here?

MHI taught late imperial Chinese history at the University of California, San Diego, for eight years before joining the History of Medicine department at Johns Hopkins University. A friend of mine started the Baltimore Brew, a local news

Crab Apple Tree

Gingko

Gingko Tree

Rosehips

17

something non-academic and non-personal, so I sent her some work and started writing about foraging in Baltimore last fall. My neighbors know of my “treasure hunting” and offer me figs and pears from the trees in their yards. The first thing I wrote about was a Cornelian Cherry Tree on the Hopkins Homewood campus. You found me through the Brew, which article was your favorite?

RKHonestly, I was excited to read all of them. If I had to choose I’d say the honeysuckle one, only because I swoon from their scent as well! I also liked your most recent gingko post, I had no idea parts of the fruit were poisonous. Although, the smell might hint at that.

MHMy friend Min Suh Son showed me “the way of the gingko,” or, how to take only what you need.

Most of the nuts have fallen on the ground by this time of year, if you’re ready, we can go get started.

There’s a few other things I can show you!

December 4th, 2010

DEPARTMENTALS

blog, about two years ago... I was looking to do

HOUSING, SAILING VESSELS, SURVIVAL...

19

FEATURES

STORIES FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE BY: BETSY HANDS, DMITRY ORLOV, AND HANK LENTFER

... OUR SOCIETY HAS THE KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERTISE T O R E D U C E O U R I M PA C T O N THE EARTH...

HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT James Howard Kunstler’s grim description of

the scrap wood and used it to make wood shingles.

energy-starved Americans can make one feel a bit

Through creative partnerships, we supported other

panicky. But I think we need to use a framework

nonprofits, job training for persons with disabilities,

of hope and commit to small steps that make a

and moderate-income households that were

difference. I direct a feminist affordable housing

remodeling their homes. The shingles and local

organization, homeWORD, known as an innovative

lumber, called Good Wood, are now being sold at

developer that models a holistic approach to building

Home Resource, a salvaged materials nonprofit.

housing and communities.

HomeWORD’s latest project, Orchard

Our affordable housing is easy to replicate and reduces car dependence, enhances food security, conserves precious resources, and supports the

development. We know that our small valley in

local economy while demonstrating that there is a

Missoula, Montana, is limited and population

way within our everyday lives to slow greenhouse

growth is eating up our valuable agricultural land

gas emissions. It may not look different, but it

and open space. The Orchard Gardens site offers

makes a huge difference.

Housing is a human right, and our society

clustered, dense development that not only

has the knowledge and expertise to reduce our

provides thirty-five units of affordable rental

impact on the Earth by planning and designing

housing, but also provides two acres of land for

smarter buildings. It just takes some innovative

farming, an orchard, and a bike and pedestrian

planning and vision.

path that connects the neighborhood to downtown.

Orchard Gardens has ground source heat, solar hot water, solar panels, on-demand water heaters, heat recovery ventilation, increased insulation, and high efficiency windows. However, our responsibilities and vision extend beyond energy and resource efficiency, water conservation, and healthy indoor air environment. Instead of buying wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council and shipped over long distances, we negotiated with a local forester to supply the project with sustainable lumber. He, in turn, took the wood to our local lumber mill. Furthermore, we collected

–BETSY HANDS Missoula, Montana

FEATURES

Gardens, encapsulates a vision for local, sustainable

homeWORD an opportunity to demonstrate

21

WE’LL N E E D SAILI N G V E S S E L S About a year ago, I decided to try to make some

afford to own real estate, but most people

positive changes in my life, and, if possible,

can afford to own a boat, provided they live on it.

around me as well. And so I became interested

Even an expensive marina like mine (Constitution

in sailboats. Sailboats of the serious, ocean-going

Marina in Boston) is cheaper than the cheapest

variety are either a very extravagant hobby or a

studio apartment I can find within bicycling

really cheap way to live and travel. Few people can

distance of my job.

A sailboat is a house that moves with you wherever you go, that you can own free and clear, that you can maintain and even build yourself.

dentures, so they make you check everything, including your false teeth.

Then you find out about the Sail Transportation

If you live and travel on a boat, owning a car

Network. You go to the STN website and find

becomes impractical. You can’t put a car on a boat,

several boats planning the passage you intend

so you ride a bicycle instead. So there is one large

to make. You go look at the boats, interview the

category of expense gone. No rent or mortgage

skippers, and decide on one. You then go back to

(a marina slip is rent of a sort—cheap rent), so

the website and submit payment for STN’s finder’s

there’s another large expense gone. Boats require

fee. On the day of departure, you simply show up

more or less constant maintenance, and sailing

at the dock. STN has already provisioned the boat

is quite a lot of exercise, and so with that and all

for the passage. You come aboard and sail off. If

the bicycling you become physically fit, and your

you are so inclined, you can take part in various

medical expenses go down as well. Lastly, the

quintessential sailing activities, such as baking

amount of storage space on a boat is limited, so

bread, cooking stew, mixing drinks, and keeping

it’s just not possible to spend money accumulating

a lookout.

useless junk.

Sailing vessels predate industrialization by

The Sail Transportation Network is just a assured that there are no legal or technical

industrialization has run its course. Sailors and

obstacles to making it work.

their ships run on food and water and wind—all renewable. Sailboats can be made from renewable

—DMITRY ORLOV

materials as well: wood, hemp, flax, and pitch.

Boston, Massachusetts

intact. It is also a culture that fosters competence, fitness, self-reliance, and courage, which are all sadly missing from the world we see around us. If we want to make it to the future, we’ll need sailing vessels.

The trends that will once again make sailing a viable form of transportation are already in place but, for the sake of the argument, let us think a few years forward. Suppose it’s 2010, and you want to travel up or down either coast. You might consider driving, but gas is now very expensive and often hard to find. Also, the price of asphalt has gone through the roof, so the roads are full of potholes. You might consider taking a train, but Amtrak has been largely shut down because the country can’t afford it. And you might consider flying, but ticket prices have been driven up by the cost of kerosene; plus there is a new terror scare due to intelligence reports of a plan involving elderly al-Qaeda members with exploding

FEATURES

many centuries, and they will be around long after

The culture of sailing is rich, ancient, and largely

23

concept at the moment, but I remain reasonably

I M AY K N O W H O W T O S U R V I V E , B U T S H E K N OW S H OW TO F LO U R I S H

SURVIVAL IS NOT ENOUGH The root cellar is loaded with potatoes and beets.

Whether or not the radical predictions for

The woodshed is packed. Thousand-pound slabs

the end of oil come to pass, I see no reason not to

of antlered protein walk through the yard all winter.

prepare. I’m teaching my three-year-old daughter

An abscessed tooth would be a problem, but when

to cultivate potatoes and cure fish. She’s reminding

the shit hits the fan, this is about as far from the

her forty-year-old dad that the world beyond the

fan as a body can get. I’ll be hurting for fruit.

news is bursting with beauty. This fall a flock of

Otherwise, living a quasi-subsistence life in remote

cranes passed over as we harvested spuds.

Alaska is great preparation for what James Howard Kunstler calls “the long emergency.”

Linnea and I dropped our shovels, lay back in the wet grass, and stared in silence until the last chortling bird winged beyond the horizon.

my friends in cities, my daughter (wherever she

Last night Linnea and I tromped through winter

ends up) to flourish, to find meaning in the challenge

moonlight to get potatoes from the root cellar. On

of a changing world. As I try and anticipate an

the way back she gathered snow sparkles in her

uncertain, perhaps violent future, I find myself

mittened hands. I may know how to survive, but

studying the horrors of history.

she knows how to flourish.

Viktor Frankl survived the worst of it. While

The future has always been terrifying:

imprisoned in Germany he was stripped to naked

bubonic plague, atomic bombs, climate upheaval,

existence. He writes of the daily, predawn forced

collapse of the American empire. We focus on

march to a work site.

survival and forget to prepare to die. The man who

In formation with fellow prisoners he walked

knows how to die, say the Buddhists, knows how

on swollen, frozen feet, stumbling in the dark

to live. In the end, however it comes, a psyche

over stones and through puddles. When he fell

filled with beauty might be what we most need.

the guards beat him with rifle butts. He pushed aside the grim reality with thoughts of his wife.

—HANK LENTFER

He became transfixed as he “understood how a

Gustavus, Alaska

man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved.” Frankl’s ability to find meaning, even moments of bliss, in the midst of such hardship allowed him to be a source of strength for fellow prisoners.

Photo by: Emily Burtner

FEATURES

But survival is not enough. I want my neighbors,

25

THE GOURMET FORAGER

27

FEATURES

HOW MARK HIX FOUND A FEAST IN THE HEDGEROWS

With the low winter sun streaming along London’s

Four hundred guests, paying £1,000 a ticket,

Regent’s Canal, the scene could almost be beautiful.

will file into the opulent surroundings of the

But it’s not long before this stretch of the waterway

Guildhall in the City of London to enjoy some of

in Hackney reveals its true colours: empty drinks

the finest dishes Hix and Fearnley-Whittingstall

cans and burger boxes litter the towpath and, just

can muster. After the multi-course dinner (its

visible beneath the murky waters, a plastic shopping

menu is printed overleaf ), diners in their finery,

bag drifts by like a dead jellyfish.

who will include Sophie Dahl, Jemima Khan and

Unless you’re a rat, it doesn’t look like the sort of place you’d particularly want to look for

Richard E Grant, will be entertained by Annie Lennox as well as The Ronnie Scott’s All Stars

food. But here I am, accompanying the award-

band, while they sip rare vintage champagne from

winning chef and restaurateur Mark Hix. He is

the house of Perrier Jouët. Richard E Grant, will

carrying a fetching wicker basket, with a view to

be entertained by Annie Lennox as well as The

filling it with plants that can later form the basis

Ronnie Scott’s All Stars band, while they sip rare

of a gourmet meal. We are foraging: a food-

vintage champagne from the house of Perrier Jouët.

sourcing activity as old as the hills, and which is undergoing an extraordinary renaissance.

Hix, a long-term advocate of wild food, will

It may sound like the kind of star-studded bash that seems to light up our booming capital every other week. But this event, called The Feast

be doing an awful lot of urban foraging in the

of Albion – and billed by its organisers, the global

next few weeks. Next month, he’ll join forces

luxury lifestyle group Quintessentially, as the most

with the farmer and free-range-chicken aficionado

glamorous of the year – has a twist: every single

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall to host a five-course

significant ingredient used in Hix’s kitchen will

charity banquet for some of the most wealthy and

have been sourced from within 50 miles of Tower

glamorous people on the black-tie circuit. And it

Bridge in central London.

will involve using an unusual quantity of locally foraged wild produce.

Ingredients will be transported to the feast using the most environmentally friendly means possible.

WE ARE FORAGING: A FOOD-SOURCING ACTIVITY AS OLD AS THE HILLS, AND WHICH IS UNDERGOING AN EXTRAORDINARY RENAISSANCE.

29

FEATURES

The purple sprouting broccoli, which is

grown, seasonal produce. And, increasingly, that

being grown at a farm in Pangbourne, near

food is being sourced not from organic farm shops

Reading, will make the trip into the city by bicycle

or specialist online retailers, but for free from our

(presumably not along the M4). A mountain of

hedgerows, lay-bys and towpaths.

other organic vegetables will wind its way to

Not long ago, foraging was the exclusive

the venue by a boat rowed down the Thames. It will,

preserve of sandal-wearing folk with beards – a

if you like, be the ultimate exercise in local sourcing.

1970s stereotype that never made it mainstream – or

The feast, on 13 March, is the latest example

country bumpkins with beautifully manicured kitchen

of a growing trend among some of the country’s

gardens and apple orchards. In 1971, the naturalist

leading chefs and food lovers: to shift our seemingly

Richard Mabey published Food for Free, which

insatiable appetite for imported, exotic foods

hit the shelves at the same time as jars of lentils and

(which, be they Spanish strawberries, or butter

Birkenstock sandals. It quickly became a sort of bible for

shipped from New Zealand, often clock up thousands

DIY foodies who fancied a spot of cheap grub, but were

of miles on their journeys to our plates), to locally

suspicious of processed and factory-farmed food.

31

FEATURES

Mabey’s philosophy remained a niche concern

foraging is one Fergus Drennan. Based in Canterbury,

for years but edged towards the mainstream, if only

Fergus the Forager has turned a niche hobby into a

slightly, in 1986, when Roger Phillips published

profession. Trawling the countryside for mushrooms,

Wild Food. Featwuring alfresco recipes alongside

herbs and seaweed, Drennan has supplied Jamie

full-colour photographs of British plants and

Oliver’s Fifteen and celebs’ favourite The Ivy with

fungi in London’s gardens, parks and railway cuttings,

fresh organic produce, and has his own website,

the book introduced readers to the delights of

Wild Man Wild Food.

the now ubiquitous rocket, as well as ceps and

Drennan doesn’t stop at picking mushrooms

alexanders, a forgotten parsley-like vegetable

and wild strawberries. He calls himself a vegetarian,

apparently delicious cooked simply in butter and

but he still eats meat, just not the £1.99 chickens

black pepper.

and cuts of intensively reared pork you find in the

For now at least, alexanders remains a

average supermarket. Drennan’s supermarket is

neglected plant. But, to the delight of foraging

year, he showed viewers of his BBC show The

pioneers like Phillips and Mabey, our bookshops

Roadkill Chef how to knock up a badger burger

and television listings have started to groan with

or a deer steak using animals killed by cars.

tomes and shows espousing the virtues of hidden

“Some of the few things I avoid are cats and

herbs and vegetables. Amid growing concern over

dogs,” he told The Independent. “They’ve always

food sourcing and eating organic, foraging has become

got name tags on their collars, and since I have

a 21st-century fad, for everyone from Jamie

two cats, it’s a step too far.”

Oliver and his laconic gardener, Brian, to some of London’s top restaurateurs.

Staking a claim as the Mabey of the new age in

Prime-time TV viewers have also been treated to the antics of the survival expert (and forager) Ray Mears, together with the former

33

FEATURES

Masterchef winner Thomasina Miers and her posh

between thistles and grass, is a feathery green leaf

sidekick Guy Grieve – a sort of foraging version of

with a yellow tinge that looks a bit like dill.

the Two Fat Ladies – who travel Britain searching

between the wall and the potholed path. To me,

out wild food in the Channel 4 series The Wild

it looks the kind of straggly strip of weeds you

Gourmet. Meanwhile in London, the chef Oliver

might spot at the edge of a car park or between

Rowe has caused a stir on the restaurant scene

railway lines, but not to Hix.

by opening Konstam, which sources 90 per cent

“There,” he exclaims, pointing as he crouches.

of its ingredients from within reach of the Tube

It’s only as I join him that I see what he’s looking

network, including mushrooms grown beneath

for. Sprouting from the base of a dead-looking

the North Circular road in East Ham. For the rest of us, wild-food schools have taken root in all corners of the country to teach people that there is more to be found out there

stalk, between thistles and grass, is a feathery green leaf with a yellow tinge that looks a bit like dill.

“That’s wild fennel,” Hix tells me. “Taste it.”

than blackberries and nettles. For the first time

Resisting thoughts about how many stray dogs

since before the Industrial Revolution, Britain

may have cocked their legs over this particular

may be becoming a nation of foragers.

plant, I nibble on a leaf and, sure enough, the familiar aniseedy flavour of fennel bursts forth.

****

Ignoring bemused glances from passing pedestrians

“They’re down here somewhere,” says Hix, stealing

and cyclists, we pick the lot, load up the basket

a march beside the graffitied wall of a factory that backs on to the Regent’s Canal, which flows

and continue our hunt for herbs.

Further along the canal, which was opened

eight miles from Paddington to Limehouse Basin,

in 1801 and served as a vital transport link before

near Canary Wharf. Soon, a green gap opens up

the railways came along, Hix shows me the kind

“There,” he exclaims, pointing as he crouches. It’s

of stinging nettles that will form the basis of his

only as I join him that I see what he’s looking for.

soup at next month’s bash. “You should use gloves

Sprouting from the base of a dead-looking stalk,

really,” he says, wrapping a bare hand around a

clump of nettles, “You take the tops and cook it

Launched last month, the project aims

in a soup or just wilt it. They have a wonderful,

to teach children the story behind the food on

earthy, flavour.”

their plates. “We are more disconnected from our

While nettles are off the menu today – our targets are fennel and other wild herbs and leaves –

food than any generation in history,” Holden says.

“Reconnecting people by growing food organically,

the plant is just the kind of food that Hix thinks

and teaching them about seasons and where the

we should be eating more of. “Most people just

food is grown, will give more meaning to food.”

walk past these kinds of things,” he says, “but if

As part of its plan to achieve this, the Soil

you keep an eye out, you come across all sorts of

Association is raising funds to offer every primary-

things in hedgerows or patches of grass like this.

school child in the country the opportunity

We’ve all become so used to going to the supermarket

to visit an organic farm and get hands-on experience

and filling the basket without a thought for where

of “real” food and its origins. “We need to

the food has come from. Part of caring about that

re-equip our children with the skills and

is realising what we have around us.”

knowledge to be different,” Holden says. “That

Hix’s passion for locally sourced food – he

knowledge is still there, we just need to transfer it.

toured the country in search of some of the finest

We then want to take the experience back into the

ingredients and dishes the nation has to offer for

school curriculum, and, hopefully, into children’s lives.”

Holden believes that shifting our reliance

shared by Patrick Holden, a smallholder and the

on imported foods to local produce could soon

director of the Soil Association. Funds raised by

become more than “a nice thing to do”. He says:

an auction at the feast will go towards the association’s Farm School initiative.

“This century is going to see enormous changes on a global scale due to climate change and fuel

FEATURES

his acclaimed book, British Regional Food – is

35

depletion, which will have a huge impact on

shows me the other herbs in his collection.

global food security. The best way to respond is

Sprouting from makeshift pots are plants such as

growing our own food and managing and harvesting

wild chervil, which, like fennel, possesses an

nature’s bounty.”

aniseedy flavour, as well as wild sorrel, with its lemony tang, chickweed, dandelion (great in

****

salads, apparently), pennywort transplanted from

Our basket stocked with a bountiful supply of wild fennel and other hidden herbs, we repair to

Hix’s West Country home, and red chard.

At the edge of one flowerbed, Hix spots a

Hix’s home in Kingsland, near Islington, to cook

lush growth of what looks like long, luxurious

and, more importantly, eat the kind of dish guests

grass. “I didn’t even know I had that,” Hix says.

can expect to gorge on at next month’s feast.

He picks it and offers it to my nose. It has a very

First, we pause at the chef ’s front door, where he points at a nondescript plant growing,

strong smell of garlic, but without a bulb in sight.

“That’s wild garlic – a very different plant,” he

like a weed, in the pot of an ornamental tree. The

says. It’s the final addition to our basket, whose

weed is, in fact, bittercress, whose leaves have a

contents we now dunk in Hix’s kitchen sink.

tangy flavour a few notches milder than rocket. It quickly finds its way into our basket.

In Hix’s garden, which is dominated by an enormous wood oven and a smoker, the chef

Hix and I assemble the rest of the ingredients for a dish worthy of inclusion on the Feast of Albion menu. First we prepare a saddle of wild rabbit, which Hix believes is a neglected meat.

THE BEST WAY TO RESPOND IS GROWING OUR OWN FOOD AND MANAGING AND HARVESTING NATURE’S BOUNTY

“You can pick up a cut like this for three or

“You don’t get better than that,” says Hix.

four quid at any butcher,” he says, “and it’s

With a bit of luck, Sophie Dahl and her glamorous

delicious.” The chef browns it in a very hot pan

friends will, next month, be inclined to agree.

37

and puts it in the oven to cook.

briner to cure for days, and then smoked. He dices a hunk of it and fries it with croutons cut from a homemade loaf of sour bread.

After 10 minutes, the rabbit is cooked to perfection. Hix takes it off the bone, and adds chunks of it to a bed of our wild herbs, which I have expertly finished in Hix’s spin-dryer, topped with the croutons and bacon. Dressed with a cider and rapeseed oil vinaigrette, and washed down with London porter, it is the most delicious salad I have eaten, made that bit more enjoyable by the knowledge that, just half an hour earlier, most of the herbs in it had languished by a litter-strewn towpath in Hackney.

FEATURES

Next comes the bacon. He retrieves an entire belly of pork which he has soaked in a

THE £ 1 , 0 0 0 FEAST O F F O R A G E CANAPES

MIDDLE COURSE

Venison sausages with Cumberland sauce

Nettle and wild garlic soup

Venison: shot by the gamekeeper at Windsor Great

Nettles: picked by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and

Park, which borders the Queen’s back garden

his team from London’s Hyde Park and the banks of the Thames

Brawn on toast with piccalilli MAIN COURSE Mutton and turnip pies Mutton: lovingly reared by Prince Charles at

Roast venison fillet, braised shoulder and a faggot

Highgrove, just down the M4 in Gloucestershire

with bay and juniper sauce

Smoked salmon with potato latkes and horseradish

DESSERT

Crispy pig’s head salad with soft-boiled duck egg

Richmond Maids of Honour Farmhouse cheeses

Pig’s head: from free-range porkers hand-reared

served with rosehip jelly

at Laverstoke Park in Overton, Hampshire

Cheeses: soft blue cheeses made from cows’ and ewes’ milk by Two Hoots Farmhouse Cheese, in Berkshire

Purple sprouting broccoli with anchovy dressing and pickled walnuts Purple sprouting broccoli: grown at Iain Tolhurst’s organic farm in Pangbourne near Reading, one of the country’s oldest organic farms Oysters Oysters: gigas oysters grown in Maldon Oyster Company fishery in the river Blackwater, Essex

39

FEATURES

SPROUTS You can easily transform just about any seed, bean, grain into a nutritious sprout in mere days. Sprouts, which are the germinating form of seeds and beans, require no soil – only water and cool temperatures. They emerge in two to seven days, depending on the type of seed or bean.

MEASURE For one quart of ready-to-eat sprouts, measure small seeds: 2-3 rounded tablespoons. Medium seeds: 1/4 to 1/2 cup. Beans and grains: 1 cup. Sunflower seeds: 2 cups.

What you’ll need for sprouting seeds: A quart glass jar, cheesecloth or muslin, string or a rubber band.

For larger beans and grains: A large bowl with a cover and a stainless steel mesh strainer.

SOAK Put beans in jar or bowl, soak in room temperature water to cover small seeds: 8 to 12 hours. Medium seeds: 10 to 16 hours. Beans, grains and sunflower seeds: 12 to 24 hours.

STRAIN If using a jar, secure cheesecloth or muslin over top of jar with a rubberband or string, and strain the water out through the fabric, leaving the seeds behind in the jar. If using a bowl, strain the seeds through a mesh strainer.

RINSE/DRAIN Rinse the seeds thoroughly, either by adding water through the top of the jar or by placing the strainer under cold, running water. Drain well.

EAT/STORE Drain the sprouts well, place in a container and cover with a moist paper towel. Refrigerate and enjoy within 7 days.

41 REFERENCE

WRAP/RINSE Continue rinsing the seeds 2 or 3 times a day, until the sprouts nearly fill the jar or bowl (4 to 7 days depending on the temperature). For the first 1 to 3 days, wrap the jar or bowl in a towel to keep out the light. (This will sweeten the flavor.) Then remove the cover and keep the sprouts in a sunlit area.

BUYING REFERENCE

IN BULK

43

R I C E

MEASURE The general ratio is 1 cup rice to 1½ or 2 cups water, plus ¼ teaspoon sea salt.

SIMMER Bring liquid and salt to a boil in a heavy pan with a tight-fitting lid. Add rice, bring back to boil, stir once, cover and simmer over low heat until the grains are tender.

B E A N S

STORING Store beans in an airtight container away from heat and use them within 6 months.

SORT AND RINSE Spread beans out on a rimmed baking sheet, so you can see what’s what. Remove any shriveled beans and pebbles. Rinse beans in a colander under cold running water.

SOAK Beans will cook more evenly, tenderly and in less time, if they have been soaked in ample cool water first. (Except Adzuki beans, Black beans, Black-eyed peas, Mung beans, and Soybeans.)

Most beans can use a soak of at least 4 hours and up to 12 hours.

COOK Drain and rinse beans after soaking. In a large saucepan or pot, cover beans with fresh water by about 1 inch (3 to 4 cups of water for every cup of beans). Partially cover pot, bring beans to a gentle boil, and then lower heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until beans are tender. (Taste one to check.)

N U T S

STORING Because of their high fat content, nuts can become rancid quickly if exposed to heat, light or humidity Raw, unshelled nuts will keep from 6 months to a year in a cool, dry place. Shelled nuts will keep for 3 or 4 months in airtight containers.

G R A I N S

STORING Grains stored in airtight containers away from light, heat and moisture should keep a few months. The oils in some whole grains may turn rancid over some time, so be sure to smell before using. If they smell musty or off, they may be past their prime.

RINSE AND SOAK Rinse grains thoroughly under cold running water until the water runs clear. Soaking is optional.

BOIL/SIMMER Bring water (and salt, if using) to a boil, add grains and return to a boil. Stir, reduce heat so the water just simmers, cover the pot tightly, and simmer. Resist the urge to lift the cover — releasing steam will slow the cooking process. Check for doneness by biting into one. Most whole grains are slightly chewy when cooked.

S E E D S

STORING Seeds keep longer than nuts, until ground. Then they should be refrigerated immediately and used within 3 or 4 days. (Flax seeds).

SPLIT PEAS & LENTILS

SORT AND RINSE Spread them out on a kitchen towel or rimmed baking sheet. Pick out and discard any shriveled

45

or broken beans, stones or debris, and rinse under

COOK Bring about 1½ cups of water to a boil for every cup of lentils or split peas. Add the lentils, allow water to return to boiling, reduce heat, partially cover pan, and simmer for 30-45 minutes, depending on the variety. Lentils and split peas can be added dry to soups and stews, just be sure that there is enough liquid (1½ cups to every 1 cup of lentils) to compensate for absorption.

REFERENCE

cold water.

SAILOR STEW 47 Pages Printed in Baltimore, MD April 2011 5 Copies

All images Š Rivkah Khanin except pages 2, 4, 8, 10, 20, 39, 40, 42, and 44.

www.cargocollective.com/rivkahkhanin

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