ANCESTRAL FOOD. HERBAL WISDOM. MAGICAL COOKERY. SEASONAL CELEBRATION.
I bet you didn’t know that today is the birthday of the Rowan Tree or Mountain Ash. In Russia, Ryabinnik, September 23rd was the day the rowan berries were considered sweet enough for harvest, and harvest they did. Baskets of rowan berries were cooked into jam, jelly, confiture, kissel, wine, kvass, bread, pies, and candy […]
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This Roman springtime dish is a kind of cheesy pesto once eaten in honour of the Goddess Cybele, The Magna Mater (The Great Mother). And according to Ovid, Moretum descends from a time ancient people drank only pure milk and ate only “the herbs that the earth bore of its free will.” And as we’ll […]
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Thick and robustly tangy, my all-time favorite condiment is good old-fashioned “Haws Ketchup”. Made from the bright crimson berries of the Hawthorn tree (which you can find a stone’s throw away from wherever you stand in Victoria) it compliments roasted meats, scrambled eggs, and a big basket of steaming homemade fries equally. A mainstay in […]
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As cold and flu season begins to loom, it’s time to call on the protective and healing powers of conifers. Towering over the forest canopy, their top branches are always nourished by the sun but their roots extend deeply into the earth. And when winter makes demands on our reserves of energy, endurance and warmth, […]
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Every year I fall for a particular plant and start to use it in practically everything. This year I’ve been bewitched by the deep smoky, earthy and sagey flavour of Suksdorf sagewort or coastal mugwort. Of all the mugworts I know, our native suksdorf sagewort has to be one of the most deliciously aromatic -and […]
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From Rowan Berry Syrup, Jelly, Fudge, Ketchup, Chutney, Soup and Rowan Berry Caramels, one of my favourite magical foods are the bright red berries of the Witches Tree. Once revered as the Queen of High Places and Enchantress of The Woods, few of us remember that from the British Isles to the Norse Countries, Rowan […]
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This magical Venus Vinegar is composed of the most vitalizing wild foods, herbs, and medicines offered by Mother Nature this season. It is no ordinary herbal vinegar, but a nutrient-rich, beautifying, fortifying tonic that is fruity, tangy, spicy, and earthy all in one. By balancing the fruits, shoots, and seeds that embody the energetic principles […]
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Every summer I fall in love with the flavour, aroma and healing properties of a particular plant. Last year I swooned for the anise scented lacy blossoms of wild fennel and put them in everything from crackers, cookies and cakes, infused honey, ice-cream and vodka. But this year I’ve fallen hard for the spirited peppery bite of […]
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“Oh, dear little daisy, come whisper me softly, And tell me a secret I’m longing to know…Oh, say does he love me, and whisper it low.”—Burton Egbert Stevenson,“He Loves Me, Loves Me Not” The traditional British recipe for Daisy Capers uses the tall Ox-Eye Daisy that blooms in grassy fields each summer — but the […]
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“Oh, dear little daisy, come whisper me softly, And tell me a secret I’m longing to know…Oh, say does he love me, and whisper it low.”—Burton Egbert Stevenson,“He Loves Me, Loves Me Not” The traditional British recipe for Daisy Capers uses the tall Ox-Eye Daisy that blooms in grassy fields each summer — but the common […]
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