Things aren’t always what they seem
IMBOLC
I woke suddenly in the middle of the night feeling nauseous. My mind went over the possibilities until I arrived at the horrendous conclusion. I quickly search the internet for an answer; highly toxic, no known antidote, fatal, death by asphyxia.
Thankfully I survived the night. But for about 4 hours I thought I had eaten the most poisonous plant that we have on this island; Hemlock Water Dropwort. This was a couple of years ago, I had been out for a cycle and happily picked a handful of Alexanders from a spot up on the hill near Corrymeela to have with our dinner. Despite knowing this plant very well and being 100% confident of what I had picked, the anxiety of possibility got the better of me, my rational mind losing to my catastrophising one; I went deep, look up Sardonic grin if you dare! This week I was picking Alexanders again and I was wondering how well known these plants are and whether those that dabble in wild picking/foraging know the danger. I shrugged and thought it'd also make a really great pesto.
These plant lookalikes remind me that things are not always what they seem, the pretenders, illusion, imposters, forced smiles and fake posed photos. It feels good to be reminded, to take heed, especially in the social media vs reality battle. This morning I had to close myself in the cupboard under the stairs and scream, frustration getting the better of me this time; too much bickering, not getting ready quickly enough, messy house, packed lunches, January exasperation etc! But we've got there haven’t we? This poem by Diane di Prima is so apt.
You think
Its easy
Opening doors in January
Shit man
You think its easy
Opening doors
And now Imbolc. The halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, Brigid's Day and the start of Spring. We see it everywhere; the forgotten corners of fields white with clumps of snowdrops, daffodils poking up along the verges and buds beginning to swell on the hedges and trees. Apart from beautiful Alexanders there are loads of lush edible greens starting to grow, with everyone ready to pounce on the forager's favourite, Wild Garlic. This explosion of spring plants got me thinking of a pesto to celebrate our native plants and to encourage you, dear reader to do your homework if you're thinking of picking too!
Pesto arrived in our house in the 2000's in the form of Sacla Pesto sauce in a jar; it became a staple only to be completely undermined by the far superior fresh pesto made by Claire Rainey ‘Kooky Cook’ and eventually by ourselves. Traditional pesto originated from Genoa in the north of Italy and consists of basil, garlic, pine nuts, parmesan, salt and olive oil. My version swaps out a the herbaceous basil for pungently aromatic Alexanders, Garlic for deliciously allium Three Cornered Leek and punchy parmesan for zesty Sorrel and mild cheese, in this case Killeen’s. I used some Irish hazelnuts from Westmeath and Dingle sea salt but I did not forgo the Olive Oil and added masses of delicious Honest Toil. I had it in a sandwich at lunch then with gnocchi for dinner, a few nights later I had the leftovers on pizza.
Funnily enough both three cornered leek and sorrel could be confused with common toxic plants too, so, once again, be wary.
IMBOLC pesto
40g Alexander’s
30g common sorrel
30g three cornered leek
20g toasted hazelnut
20g finely grated cheese
100 olive oil
Tsp salt
Wash your greens well and roughly chop then simply blitz in food processor or smoosh together in pestle and mortar.
I really enjoyed this post, Ciara. I love to forage but am not familiar with Alexanders. I’m off to find some now. Gorgeous piece of writing x
As always, your photos celebrate the gorgeousness of nature! And gnocchi on pizza—great idea!