CookingNatureSpringMarchAprilMay
Nettle soup
Pick young nettle tops with gloves on, cook them down with stock and potato, and the sting is gone. Spring foraging with a warm reward.
How it goes
- Show how to spot nettles and how to pick the top four leaves, gloved, from a patch away from paths.
- Rinse the nettles in a bowl of water.
- Soften chopped onion and potato in the pot over the fire, add stock and simmer.
- Add the nettles for the last few minutes, then mash or blend.
- Serve in small cups once it has cooled enough to sip.
Risk-benefit starting point
Shared by the author as a starting point, planning this idea imports it into your own risk-assessment library to review and make your own before use.
Why it's worth it- Learning that a plant they avoid can be food.
- Foraging rules practised on an easy, common plant.
- Nettle stings, Painful rash residual: Low
- Hot pot and soup, Scalds residual: Low
- Picking the wrong plant, Eating something harmful residual: Low
- Gloves for picking; dock leaves and cool water on hand.
- Adult handles the pot; soup ladled into cups and cooled before it is handed out.
- A leader checks every picked leaf; pick away from paths and dog height.
Questions & comments
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Ask the first one: how long does it take, what age did it work for. The author gets a nudge by email.