There are some really weird and misleading names for countryside ingredients. Some of them sound so disgusting that they might actually have put you off trying them out in recipes.

 

 

 

Jews Ears, now that sounds appealing, doesn’t it? It is actually an edible fungus usually found on old elder branches. It’s available all year and is really good in a regular stir-fry with chicken, onions and vermicelli.
 

Fat Hen pottage is not a hearty soup made with chicken as you may think, but made with one of the most common weeds available! If you boil some potatoes, add some fried onions and garlic, then a large handful of fat hen leaves and sorrel (also picked from the hedgerow) you will be well on your way to producing a satisfying first course. This plant has been eaten by man since AD 300 and even Napoleon lived on the black bread made from its seeds.

 

Brain Fungus is another foul sounding one which grows at the base of fir trees. It looks like a big creamy-white brain but is so delicious that after cleaning and cooking it in butter and oil the best way to eat it is on its own. It is also easy to dry so that you can store it in air tight jars and use it later. It’s also called cauliflower fungus.

 

Goutweed is a common name for ground elder and you can tell what it was traditionally used for as a medicine! This much-loathed garden vandal is best cooked when young in a little water and butter. Simmer for about 10 minutes and serve with a knob of melted butter on top.

 

Bread & Cheese! Yes, this does sound OK doesn’t it, but it is the name I always knew the Hawthorn tree as! Actually it refers to the leaves which were traditionally eaten by children on the way to school. The very young leaves can be mixed with salads or chopped and put in dumplings, the unpromising small red fruit can be made into Hawthorn jelly which is a perfect bitter-sweet accompaniment to game or lamb, and the flowers can make a tisane.

 

The majority of plants have local common-names that vary from area to area. Some are rudely descriptive depending on the shape and appearance of the plant or fungus, and others are soft rural descriptive nicknames.

 

These are just an example. Perhaps you know some others that taste more appealing than their names? Or maybe some that taste as foul as their names! Let us know.