There’s something deeply satisfying about stepping outside and letting the land tell you what’s for dinner. Foraging isn’t just a return to nature , it’s a return to instinct. With no shopping list or meal plan, you’re guided instead by the seasons, the terrain, and a bit of curiosity.
Whether it’s wild garlic in spring, blackberries in late summer, or oyster mushrooms after a rain, foraging opens a portal to flavours that rarely make it to supermarket shelves. It forces you to look closer, slow down, and develop a deeper relationship with your surroundings and your food.
Cooking with foraged ingredients means thinking on your feet. A handful of wild sorrel might become a bright pesto. Nettles? Steam them like spinach, stir into risotto. It’s in these improvised moments that real kitchen creativity kicks in. You’re no longer just following steps you’re responding, riffing, tasting, trusting.
Ingredients
For scallops
2 king scallops, roe removed, washed and cleaned
2 scallop shells halved and cleaned
2 tbsp sea buckthorn juice (foraged in the autumn, frozen and blitzed in a blender or available from health food stores)
2 thick slices of chorizo, diced
For the orange and seaweed butter
Rind of 1 orange, blanched 3 times in boiling water and finely sliced
100g butter, softened
1–2 tsp dried, ground kelp, or foraged, dried and sliced finely
Method for scallops
Start 1 day ahead or in the morning. Season the scallops lightly with sea salt, place in a small tupperware box, and pour over the sea buckthorn juice. Refrigerate if marinating overnight.
For the flavoured butter, soften the butter overnight or near a fire. Mix in the orange peel and dried kelp. Roll the butter into a cylinder in a sheet of tinfoil or greaseproof paper and place in the fridge.
Place two shell halves directly on the coals. Add a slice of the flavoured butter and wait for it to sizzle before adding the scallops. Cook the scallops for 2 minutes on each side, then add the chorizo cubes. Check that the scallops are cooked through—they should be white all the way to the centre but still tender, not rubbery. Top with another thin slice of butter and serve straight from the shell with forks.
