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Rosehips these were boiled up in some water, strained and sugar added to the resulting liquid. Reduced to a vague syrupy consistency and bottled. Huge amounts of vit C allegedly and rather suprisingly tasty. Who'd have thought it!

The elderberries were stewed along with some of the damsons, blackberries and apples then spread on the tray of the dehydrator. 6 hours later it can be peeled off... ...to make fruit leathers. One has got some pips left in, the smooth one was whizzed in the vita-mix too...

Ashdown Forest. We have been picking large amounts of ceps for the last 3-4 weeks now. There is about 4 kilos in that bowl and is the result of about 3 hours picking for 1 person last friday evening and saturday morning. Some from locations known to us, others from elsewhere. After a very dry summer here the forest has gone mushroom crazy recently.

Ceps Damsons Apples Elderberries Mushrooms went in the dehydrator... Damsons and apples went into the pot... ...and ultimately into a jar... There's the dried ceps in the background.

I have been making a simple elderflower drink by covering the flowers with water, sugar and lemon, leaving overnight then straining and simmering for 20 mins. I'm amazed at the intensity of flavour that comes from those little flowers. A beautiful drink on a hot sumemrs day.

And the hotel is pronounced (I think) plaz bod-i-groyce.

sorry your meal wasn't great, but I really enjoyed reading your review!

Hi Pam - Elder isn't in my repertoire but I shall look out for it. We have been getting lots of nettles and wild garlic. Most go into 'green juices', but the garlic has also gone into salads and both have been made into relatively successful soups. I have recently discovered wood sorrel, which has bowled me over. A tiny little plant, but one that packs a big taste - a wonderful sour grape flavour which is good in salads. Also dandelion leaves are coming up in my neck of the woods now and are also a good addition to salads. We love foraging in our house and find that if we take the kids they will try anything we've picked. We do have to be careful with our 2 year old though. After taking her mushroom picking a few times last year we found she would then just go up to any muchroom and pick it, which can be dangerous!

Great thread folks - really interesting to see what everyone else is foraging across the world. I live in the Ashdown Forest so have to beat Pooh Bear to some of the more interesting goods. Some of my favourites recently have been: Chestnuts - added to soups and stews they give a lovely nutty flavour. Wood Sorrel - recently added to our list, amazing zingy flavour, best described as similar to grape skin. Nettles - most get juiced along with other greens, but some made into soups and teas. Dandelion leaves. Lots of mushrooms - season should be starting pretty soon with the St.Georges. Wild garlic is everywhere at the moment. Its going to be a lifetime of learning for me.

After reading about it on this thread for god knows how long, I finally went on saturday. Completely full for pre-theatre. We ate the squid burger, saddle of rabbit and from the pre-theatre menu a kale and potato soup and saddle of lamb. All was bloody lovely. Very impressed with the soup - such simple ingredients producing a great full flavour. Shared a desert, two carafes, bottle of water £73 including service. I ain't gonna complain about that.

I went to Princi at the weekend - Italian bakery in Soho. Lots of lovely pastries and breads - some filled with nice hams etc. Good coffee. I was impressed. Less impressed at lunchtime, food still good but unfortunately not worth the scrum for a seat.

John Campbell's Formulas for Flavour goes into a little detail about advance prep for the recipes in the book.

I couldn't find a mention of Plas Bodegroes on this site other than a comment that it lost its Michelin star this year, I think. I have only eaten at a couple of one starred restaurants before, so can't comment specifically on how it compares to the general 1* standard, but overall I was very happy with the package. It is a restaurant with rooms that has been under the same ownership since 1986 in a rural location a mile or so outside Pwhelli. We booked very late so had no choice of rooms, but in the end that turned out well as we put our nippers in a single room together. They supplied an intercom-thing so we could listen to them grunting as we were eating our meal, but in practice we handed that over to the staff and happily they didn't need to tell us to rush up and sort them out. Hopefully that was because they didn't wake up rather than they weren't listening. Still, ignorance is bliss. The hotel is very tastefully decorated, with a lot of interesting original artwork. Service was very friendly and despite the fact we were the only guests there with children, we were made to feel very welcome and nothing was too much trouble. The restaurant was full for the three nights that we were there (weds to fri), with a mixture of residents and non-residents. The food was some of the best I have eaten. In particular a starter of pork rillettes and black pudding with scotch egg and lentils came as a super-sized liquorice allsort with layers of rillettes and black pudding with a smear of pumpkin puree on which sat half a beautiful scotch egg and a sweet preparation of lentils. Also mains of welsh rib-eye with a very cute steak and kidney pudding, and loin of pork with a creamy bacon and leak crumble. Meat main courses were generally a main component with one or two small preparations of the same animal with a few very cute vegetables. I will say that the menu was let down somewhat by the desserts. It was £42.50 for 3 courses, but there was little to tempt me from the dessert menu. That said, the lemon verbena crème brulee was delicious. Overall I would definitely recommend Plas Bodegroes, and I would be interested to hear the opinions of any other people here who may have visited.

Came upon a large circle of St Georges last night in Ashdown Forest actually. I'd never eaten one before. I started St Georges day with a St George mushroom omelette. They have a lovely flavour and very satisfying meaty texture. Been keeping an eye out for morels on my walks but haven't spotted any yet.

oh. my. god.

I'm suprised there hasn't been more discussion on this program. I only caught 1 episode of the final series bit, but from what I saw - annoying presenters excluded - it was good tv and high standard cooking. One of them had cooked a bloody pigeon 3 ways for gods sake.

Indeed I am. And no, I haven't been to any of the three you mention. Its so rare to be a unique selling point, and would surely generate publicity on the uniqueness of its menu. There's too much bloody choice in everything in life these days. I have had a headache for the last week just trying to choose a broadband supplier. Lets make things more simple.

This is a big british hang up is it? Can't say I agree. And how is this the fault of the punter? It seems more like restauranteurs not brave enough to do it. Can't remember seeing a single place in the UK operating in this way. One of my favourite meals was in Paris with no menu, no choice. You don't see it here, that I do agree with.

yes, I haven't had a bad meal there in, say, 6 or 7 visits. My only gripe would be the menu rarely changes, but they do have a couple of specials every day and their two courses for a tenner changes daily. Still, I fancy virtually everything on what is quite a large menu so I'm not going to complain. I still haven't been to Meadow...must go there. I'm not that interested in top end dining. With Riddle and Finns, the Real Eating Company, the Gingerman 'chain' and a couple of others I'm happy with the quality in Brighton. There are some great pubs on the Downs too. Returned to the Griffin in Fletching again at the weekend - a lovely old pub with really good food, a lovely garden for the kids to run around in. If you can go in summer when they are bbq'ing you won;t regret it.

I haven't tried Abel and Cole, but the Riverford box and service is very good.

it is sweet, not creamy at all. I wouldn't recommend to anyone over the age of 3. As for whoever it was that posted the end of Grapes of Wrath - you should be damned for what you've done. You have just ruined what is the greatest ending to any book I have ever read - for anyone that hasn't yet read it. Disgraceful.

to add a little info to this thread... I ate at a cafe on the beach at Blackpool Sands last week - Venus cafe I think it was called. They bbq meat and fish. Most food locally sourced. Had a really good steak and lobster surf n turf. Basic stuff, served with small salad and fries and a garlic butter. Awesome location, with the glass wall facing the beach folded back. I would return.

I like Carluccios. There, I've said it. Anyone know whats in their buttery sauce they put on their ravioli?

Hello gastrochick and welcome to Hove. There is a traditional greengrocer on the corner of Blatchington Road and George Street - Jenkins. No organic produce though as far as I am aware. I use them and Tesco for organic things. They supply a lot of local restaurants and tend to have a lot more stuff than they have on display - for instance I know I can always ask them for a frisee or oak leaf and they'll disappear into the fridge for them. Other than that I can't think of anywhere worth mentioning. I recommend you try Canhams, a butchers on Church Road, if you haven't already. If you can get to their sausage rolls as they come out of the oven at about 7.30 do so. Oh. My. God. Also go to the Real Patisserie on Western Road for great bread, Infinity Foods in Brighton city centre for organic/health foods and the arches on the seafront near the Palace Pier for fish. Apologies if this is old news, I'm just enjoying thinking about them. Gingerman is always good for me - I think Gingerman at Drakes is supposed to be a little better, according to the gfg. People like Seven Dials restaurant - I haven't been. Terre a Terre is usually very good, although the food is a bit laboured for me.

I have bought a few cakes in there, nothing else. From the quick scan of prices it didn't look as expensive as I expected it to be. Cakes were fine - nothing out of the ordinary.