HARVESTING AND SELECTING HERBS & TWIGS FOR SMOKING

These can be harvested from your garden, someone else’s garden, the park… wherever this sort of thing grows. I find that I rarely have use for a whole bunch of thyme I’ve bought from the supermarket. It can be used to smoke something on the barbecue or stuffed inside a bird to influence its cooking juices. For hay, I generally buy a massive bag from the pet shop and it lasts indefinitely. I will also run over to the park every now and again and snip some cherry or chestnut twigs when the ranger isn’t looking. It’s not like I’m felling trees, though if I was allowed I would have deforested half of Wanstead Flats by now. Have you ever chopped a tree down with an axe? It’s pretty primal. I digress. These twigs and herbs can be combined to make a cocktail of flavours, and their varying degrees of size and decay will determine the smoke time.