The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Forager shares her top tips for finding food out in the wild
Professional forager Amy Rankine can help people find and prepare wild food. She runs Hipsters and Hobos, where she teaches and leads foraging walks to source ingredients for the drinks industry, and will be bringing her expertise to the Scottish Game Fair on the grounds of Scone Palace this weekend.
She has several qualifications, including an MSc in gastronomy from Edinburgh’s Queen Margaret University, and is also a member of the Association of Foragers.
Amy said support and encouragement from fellow foragers helped her find a career she truly loves.
In Scotland people can legally forage in most places as an extension of the right to roam statutory access, but cannot do it for commercial reasons, and may not uproot any plants they find.
While at Scone Palace, Amy is hoping to find mushrooms.
She said: “If you have a couple of really good days of rain – the kind that saturates the soil – then a couple of days of good sun, it’s the second day of sun that you’ll see things popping up.
“I know they will have some stunning waxcap mushrooms because they’ve got a really old lawn and they’re a wonderful habitat for these beautiful, brightly-coloured species.
“Definitely some boletes and, if we’re very lucky, a beefsteak. They’ve got some nice oak trees where they grow.”
She advises people not to eat anything unless they are certain about what it is.
Puffball and beefsteak mushrooms are much easier to identify for those starting out because of their unique look.
Pick a time to start identifying plants and watch as they change throughout the seasons, she says
Some things are very easy to find, like wild garlic in the spring.
The plant smells like garlic, but it is important to note other plants can grow alongside it, so as long as there is a garlic smell, it will be that or wild leek.
Some plants only grow at the seaside or in particular types of forest.
There are also some fungi that don’t grow in more northern parts of Scotland.
Join a local forager for a day out and let them give advice on some of the plants on our doorstep, said Amy.
They will also be able to offer inspiration for the different seasons.
There are many people across Scotland within the Association of Foragers who offer courses.
Get a good guidebook and explore the local area a few times before picking things.
Get to know where people walk and avoid picking anything too close to paths.