Wild Desires

Light years from those flabby things you find on top of pizzas, the wild mushrooms are firm and meaty, while the nettle quiche – yes, I did say nettle – bristles with earthy mineral flavour. The chenopod fritters have a citric, chlorophyllpacked zing and the wildflower salad is so tasty you find yourself wondering why you ever paid good money for an iceberg lettuce.

Chenopod fritters The first savage hunger pangs assuaged, I ask Jacquel – amid groans of “you’re putting me off my dinner” – why we hadn’t culled a few roadkill rats, or a couple of tyre-zapped hedgehogs to add some protein to our foraged supper?

She has nothing against the idea, but adds: “We’re in one of France’s most rural provinces, and since the nearest road averages two cars per hour, any hedgehog, rat or squirrel would have to be blind – or perhaps geriatric and therefore unpalatable – to get knocked down.”

Technique not advisable for hayfever sufferers Once the lemon-scented wild apple tart and the rosehip ice-cream with its lingering taste peach have done the rounds, I ask the big question: “So what is it about foraged food that can get a group of successful 30-somethings, like us, out of their beds at the crack of dawn?

“Is it the thrill of the hunt, the taste of the kill, the flavour of the food, the pleasure of meeting other mavericks, or just the weird-butwonderful therapy of slopping about in those farting green wellies?”

The short answer is “a bit of all five”. The long answer is that the four of us are going to sign up for this course where you dress in designer sheepskins, sleep rough and savage badgers with your bare teeth, so stay tuned.

FORAGE WITH KATIA JACQUEL: LES JARDINS D’ISIS, DOMAINE D’ECHOISY, CELLETTES, FRANCE, TEL: +33 (0)54 520 3494. FAMED FOR HIS WILD FOOD CUISINE, CELEBRITY CHEF MARC VEYRAT ALSO RUNS SURVIVAL COURSES AND WILD FOOD WORKSHOPS. FOR DETAILS, VISIT WWW.MARCVEYRAT.FR

Scavenge in Europe
Food fests…
IN THE UK: Fergus the Forager (aka Drennan, left) runs one-day foraging courses near London, from £110 (€140) per person, including a foraged lunch (www. wildmanwildfood. com). Or, you can check out Marcus Harrison’s plant identification and wild food weekends, near Newquay, Cornwall, by visiting www.countrylovers. co.uk/wfs.

IN ITALY: Eccentric academic and forager Laura Rangoni lives in the mountains near Bergamo and runs wild food courses (www.laurarangoni. com). And for a wheelchair-friendly option, Villa La Rogaia is an organic farm in Umbria, offering herbal tours and lessons in wild plant cuisine (www.rogaia.com).