Foraging on the expressway

This post carries on from where I left off in “Foraging on my driveway (and the beach)” and details final steps in making a Native Salt and Pepper Mix from scratch.

Where we left things was that I had made Kawakawa and Nasturtium powder from leaves I’d foraged on my property.  It was a fairly easy process to dry the leaves in the oven and crush them into a powder.  I’d also produced salt, extracting it from seawater I’d got from Waikanae beach by heating the water over a low heat for a few hours till just the salt remained. The last ingredient to finish the mix was the Black Flaxseed powder and I thought I’d be hard-pressed to find the seeds at this time of year.

Not so it turns out…

Finding Flaxseed

Riding my bike back from a cycle race on the weekend I noticed the thousands of flax bushes that have been planted alongside our new expressway.  And I then saw that a very small percentage had thrown up flower stalks, and these now had seed pods.  Clambering up the slope I checked a few out – but alas the seed pods were long spent and just the dried husks remained.  I figured that it was the wrong time of year.  Riding further along I saw one plant with slightly different looking pods and, sure enough, this ones pods were full…  I harvested as many as I could carry one-handed, and rode home, keen to see what I had.

Pulling the pods apart with my thumbs revealed a ton of beautiful black seeds, in three packed rows per pod.  It wasn’t a hard job to de-seed them but it left a stain on my thumbs that, several days later, is still there!  Strong stuff…

The instructions for making them into a powder told me to “Toss over a medium heat in a dry frying pan until the seeds start cracking or popping”.  I had them in the frying pan for a while and said to Glynis that I thought they were no good as they weren’t cracking or popping.  She told me to have some patience… And she was right. Not too long after, they started jumping out of the pan with a loud crack each time, and I had to get a cover before I lost most of them…  I think my 10-year-old, Ted, would have loved watching (the older two as well, but secretly, as it would not be cool enough for teenagers).

From there it was a simple matter to grind into a powder with a mortar and pestle.   The result looked very much like ground coffee.

Once this was done I had all the ingredients I needed to make the Native Salt and Pepper mix!

I discovered I didn’t have enough of all components to make the recipe so settled for a half portion – which resulted in a near-full, medium-sized jar of mix.

   

It has a unique aroma which is really nice.

Having made the mix, there was nothing else for it but to use it immediately in a dish.  I had to report back on how good it is right?

Trying it

So back to the “Find it, Eat it” book, and I found an intriguing sounding dish.  “Crispy lamb’s fry with warm salad of mandarin, bacon and haloumi”.

It was totally yum!  The Native Salt and Pepper mix was added to the dressing and then also liberally sprinkled over the salad.  It certainly adds a nice kick to the dish.

So there you have it… I’ve produced a very, very nice condiment consisting of four interesting ingredients I foraged.  It’s nothing startling really, but it’s been a really fun thing to do and has encouraged me to make more.

What’s next?

I’m looking at some of the other powders, seeds, and spices that I can forage.  There’s a really interesting looking Pineneedle-zatar spice rub that also uses the native salt and pepper mix.  And a foragers BBQ meat rub.    We have a pine tree and it’s not far away from BBQ season, is it?

I’ll keep you posted 🙂