Wednesday, June 19, 2013

The Hedgerow Cookbook; By: Wild at Heart

 
The Hedgerow Cookbook; By: Wild at Heart
Anova - July 2013

It was the title and the pretty cover that made me curious about this cookbook, as well as the fact that it seemed a bit different -- focusing on "wild food plant sources".  After finishing this book I was totally impressed. This lovely book contains 100 different recipes, and there is a gorgeous color photo for just about every delight in this book. As a visual person, this was a definite plus.

The book is divided into sections which covers: flowers & hips; leaves; berries; fruits with stones; fruits wit pips and nuts.  There is a section on the "basics" of preserving, which was very good for a novice like myself.  I liked the fact that they also discussed useful equipment.

Each "wild food source" gets a page devoted to the specifics, and then also a photo and a page with a gorgeous high gloss color photo and a recipe, such as Dandelion and Dandelion Flower Wine and Dandelion Marmalade; Elderflower and Elderflower Cordials, Brambles and Bramble Apple Jam with Cinnamon. How about whipping up some tasty delights using rose petals (rose petal jam), rose hips, wild berries and fruits such as wild plums and there are plenty more that I thought were worth trying as well.  

Admittedly, if there was one drawback to this book, it was the fact that some of the "wild food sources" may not be readily available to many of us here in the US. Even if this proves to be true for some, there is plenty to make this book worthwhile. Nature lovers who is just kind of bored with traditional recipes I think will especially like this one. Here are a few examples of the beautiful photos (taken with my iPhone so please forgive quality and glare).

WILD GARLIC and Wild Garlic Pesto


BLACKBERRIES and Blackberry Post & Almond Trifle


Blackberry and Apple Crumb Cake


The authors, Wild at Heart, operate a small business: www.wildatheheartfoods.co.uk. The Company makes award-winning jellies, relishes, and fruit cheeses based on traditional English recipes, using wild, native, or ancient fruits.

 (eGalley provided to me via NetGalley)



10 comments:

  1. The cover is great and your photos look delicious too. I love it when cookbooks have photos.

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  2. The cover recipe looks delish and I'd make all of the ones you photographed!

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  3. Yum! A different sort of cookbook, quite interesting!

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  4. The cover would get my attention too! Looks so good!

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  5. Such a beautiful cover and pictures. Yummy :)

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  6. Wow! The cover is stunning. I can't help but think the recipes you mentioned are such a blast from the past - something you would read in frontier books like the Little House series or even Anne of Green Gables with her raspberry cordial. I love it!

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  7. This looks such a beautiful book, it's going on my wishlist.

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    1. Margaret, I bet you'll find all of the items much more readily available in the UK.

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  8. This sounds great. I too am a very visual person and like to see what the food should look like (close to it) when finished!!!

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