I’m sure there’s a gorgeous lady out there somewhere named Candy whom I could fall head-over-heels in love with but, on this occasion, I’m yet again referring to my sweet tooth, aka love/addiction to sugar and, hence, the sugar preserving (candying) of various wild food plants. There’s vast scope for experimentation in this regard. Here I want to concentrate on the technique as traditionally used, as well as in a few experimental ways I’ve been successful with. To that end this article will explore how to candy the following wild, and not so wild, ingredients: rose hips, chestnuts, Alexanders, angelica and coltsfoot stems, sea holly and fennel roots, green figs, green and red blackberries, as well as incorporating many of these ingredients into mincemeat for some really unique alternatives to the conventional Christmas mince pie.
Candied chestnuts, alexanders stems, green figs, sea holly roots, rosehips, green and red blackberries
Marrons glace
Wild food mince pies
Alexanders liqueur slush (in lieu of a better name)
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