It’s time to get out in the spring sun and get foraging for vitamin and mineral packed young shoots and leaves.

For a quick power lunch, try this omelette open sandwich I made with a lacto-ferment filling. Delicious!

First, make your ferment. This needs doing a week before you add it to any recipes!

Lacto-fermentation relies on lactobacteria. You find these helpful microbes on the surface of pretty much every living plant or fungi. That includes supermarket vegetables, unless they’ve been doused with something really nasty. It also includes every wild plant.

Collect your wild veg. for this ferment I used:

• 2 handfuls Jack by the Hedge tops (Allaria petiolata),
• 1 handful White Deadnettle (Lamium album),
• 1 handful Cleavers (Galium aperine)
• 5 sliced garden radishes (for colour & texture)
• 1 handful of raisins
• 2 tbsp powdered turmeric
• 1 tsp crushed coriander seed
• Spring/mineral water to cover

I broke the plants down with sea salt and excluded air. This allows the beneficial anerobic bacteria to work. Lactobacteria partially digest the plant matter, making nutrients more easily available to our bodies. They enhance the taste of the plant and add an umami tang. They also preserve the food as they stop harmful bacteria from accessing the food.

I was lucky enough to attend a course with fermentation guru Sandor Katz. He told us he has used ferments up to 2 years after he made them! He stored his in a cold cellar, which slows the rate of fermentation. For those of us without a cold cellar, the fermented veg can easily keep for several months.

I left the jars to ferment on a shelf for about a week. You will know it’s working when you see bubbles forming. This is the gas excreted by the bacteria, which sounds awful but tastes lovely. Believe me!

It was then the work of minutes to bung half the jar of Turmeric Jack Raisin Ferment in with 2 eggs, add 3 chopped spring onions and sesame seeds, fry on both sides for 5 mins and whang it in some flat bread.

I added a handful of dried Nettle seed I had lying round from last summer too.

Add some chopped coriander if you like, and some tomatoes and plain yoghurt.

Jack by the Hedge is full of bitters, which aid your digestion by helping your gall bladder produce bile. It has an amazing garlic-mustard taste and is easy to harvest.

Nettle seed is high in protein, omega oils, fatty acids, and minerals – especially iron. It’s supposed to be an aphrodisiac, and was given to horses that gypsies sold to make them look younger and give them energy and a shiny coat! (Knowing this, I stuff my face with them regularly in the hope of attracting a decent man.)

Cleavers is a kidney tonic. It aids your kidneys in cleansing the blood. It’s got a good amount of Vitamin C too.

White Deadnettle is an astringent. The white flowers taste of sweet creamy mushrooms! don’t fear…it can’t sting you. it just looks like a nettle.

If you enjoyed this recipe and want to know more about the art and science of lacto-fermentation, do come along to one of my short courses. We’ll be foraging wild edible plants, then creating a Korean kimchi from them to take home.

Ticket links are below:

There’s AM :10 to 1pm and PM: 2pm to 5pm sessions to choose from on several dates. See my full Eventbrite site for more ticket links.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/d/united-kingdom–london/make-your-own-wild-kimchi

Bush botherers of the world, unite!

xx Hedgewitch Kat xx