A foraged soup stock
As we don’t have a fridge, I’m always curious to experiment with different food preservation techniques, bonus points if said food is foraged!
It’s the last day of the year, and what better way to spend it other than nursing a nasty flu with the rest of my family… So I’m sitting here tonight, typing away in the company of a handkerchief and a mug of licorice and ginger decoction.
Although I’m feeling quite miserable, I’m also feeling quite supported. Not only because we’re all going through this together — and I mean, all of us, as this same flu has been going round and round our community —, but also because I’m in quite good company with my herbal allies.
In late summer, my dear friend Cheech sent me Pascal Baudar’s The New Wildcrafted Cuisine (you may remember me mentioning this book in the last post!). Bioregional herbs and foods are my absolute favorite to work with, and this clever book only fuels that passion brighter. One of the recipes that caught my eye was this Salted Wild Herbs recipe, which is nothing more than a traditional European method for preserving greens, and making soup stock, using salt. Although this could be done with any vegetable, using locally abundant wild greens is a rich and magical twist to give to this preparation.
As we don’t have a fridge, I’m always curious to experiment with different preservation techniques. At this point, I’ve got pickling, fermenting, dehydrating, and canning pretty much settled in my books (although there’s always room to expand these even further!), but salting is something I haven’t done much of.
As a side note, every new year I write down a list of resolutions. Although they change directions over the years, one that has been constant for almost a decade now is to every day eat something that’s been grown or foraged by myself. Making myself a couple jars of preserved foraged greens that are used sparingly seemed like a beautiful addition to a bioregional diet!
And so, a few weeks ago, I strapped by foraging basket to my back (shout out to my pal Anni, who weaves the most badass willow baskets) and went out on a mission: collecting a basket full of wild greens to follow Pascal’s recipe and make my very own foraged soup stock.
I used the wild greens available close to me, but again, any of your choosing would work. The principle of this preparation is really simple: all you need is vegetables and salt, which acts as a preservative as it inhibits microbial growth.
In his book, Pascal mentions different ratios of salt to vegetables that he has come across in his research, but I decided to go safe and follow his own personal practice: 1 part of salt to 4 parts of greens. The result is a very salty preparation that can be used to flavor soups, sauces, stews, you name it. As I’ve been sick, I’ve also been enjoying a spoon of my stock in a mug of hot water. A nutrient-dense, nourishing and satisfying drink, with an unexpectedly complex flavor. And that’s exactly what I’ve been craving these days.
Here are the greens that made it into my basket and my stock:
Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), which makes for the bulk of my preparation
Lamb’s quarters (Chenopodium album)
Yellow dock (Rumex crispus)
Borage (Borago officinalis) leaves
Wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum)
Mallow (Malva sylvestris)
Sorrel (Rumex acetosa)
Chickweed (Stellaria media)
To add flavor depth to this preserve, I also added a bunch of dried oregano from the garden, as well as some fresh sage and spearmint, and half an onion. I then followed Pascal’s directions, and it all went something like the following:
Ingredients
200 g of vegetables: your chosen wild edibles, herbs, and half an onion
50 g of sea salt
Directions
I placed the washed and chopped greens, herbs and onion in a large jar, add the salt, and blended using an immersion blender (it will reduce quite a bit, don’t throw any of the remaining liquid away!). You determine how think you want it to be. I wanted a smooth stock, but well, it’s winter, the days are short and dark, and as I used the immersion blender our batteries ran out, so my stock is halfway there and we spent the evening by candlelight. But it was worth it.
Then I let the mixture sit in the jar overnight, and the next morning I massaged it all thoroughly with clean hands.
After sterilizing the small designated jars, it was time to jar the stock. I sprinkled some salt on the bottom of each jar, andI then added spoonfuls of the blended greens, pressing them down as I filled it, to avoid any air bubbles. You want to end up with a jar that is full of compacted greens, with visible liquid when pressed down with a spoon. Sprinkle a little more salt of top, and close the lid tightly.
The flavor will be become deeper over the next few weeks, and this type of preserve will keep for about a year (or longer!), in a cool and dark place. To use, add a tablespoon of it as a salt substitute to various foods and dressings.
I absolutely love simple recipes like these, and how flexible they can be. A foraged soup stock made in winter will be completely different from one made in summer. This is why foraging is such a fascinating practice to me, as the foods we consume change over the months in relationship with the landscape. Like a little dance between body and bioregion, never the same.
Speaking of foraging, Herbal Academy has a fantastic short course just on this topic! The Foraging Course is a wonderful program if you want to develop an ethical foraging practice but are feeling a bit lost and in need of guidance. And yes!, the wild edibles and herbs covered in this course are relevant for us here in Europe, and Western Iberia too! I enrolled in this program recently to brush up my knowledge and get familiar with new-to-me herbs I’m probably not greeting in my landscape, and I’m having so much fun. If you want to join me there, Herbal Academy is currently holding their annual course sale and The Foraging Course has a generous discount to it - the sale lasts through January 8th though, so hurry up if you’re adding an every day eat something that’s been grown or foraged by myself line to your new year’s list too!
Happy foraging, friends! May the new year bring plenty of creative adventures and ethical wildcrafting forays your way!