ALYSIA’S GUIDE TO HIGH-END FORAGING

DANDELION CRISPS

YOUNG dandelion leaves make a great base for a salad. Dandelions also have pink roots which taste like chicory or endive. Slice and mix into your salad, or fry in hot oil for delicious dandelion crisps.

SPRUCE TIP MAYO

THE green new tips on pine or spruce trees are fresh and lemony when they first appear at this time of year. They’re delicious chopped and mixed through a mayonnaise or Hollandaise sauce. Pop the tips off the end of the bough as if you’re picking berries.

DOCK DUMPLINGS

COOKED dock leaves have a flavour and texture a bit like spinach. Combined with nettles, oatmeal, onions, butter and seasoning, dock pudding makes a tasty addition to a cooked breakfast. Adam Reid at The French restaurant in Manchester has conjured up heavenly little dumplings with them.

GARLIC FACE PEELS

WILD garlic has an intensity of flavour that cultivated garlic can’t match. It has big glossy leaves and little white flowers, but you’ll know it by its garlicky smell. Use the leaves like a herb. Fling into risottos or pastas, or puree it and serve with lamb. Picking garlic is good for the complexion because the acids it releases are like a chemical peel and will strip the outer layer of skin from your face and arms.

FABULOUS FUNGHI

PEOPLE tend to associate wild mushrooms with autumn, but a few varieties start coming out now,

including the giant puffball,

the delicate nutty morel, and the chunky St George’s, all of which my chefs adore.

(Remember, about two per cent of all UK mushroom varieties are deadly poisonous. Always be 100 per cent certain of your identification.)

GREEN WALNUT WINE

IN EARLY summer, immature ‘green’ walnuts form. Pickle them, make a piquant, spicy ketchup, or even a fabulous wine cocktail (steep in red wine for six weeks, then fortify with sugar and vodka. Leave a few months, then enjoy).