Pontack Sauce

The latest recipe I've tried is Pontack Sauce. I have yet to meet someone who has heard of this sauce but apparantly it goes well with game!

I started by boiling 500ml of cider vinegar, then pouring this vinegar over 500g of fresh elderberries. It is best to do this in a casserole dish because the next step is to leave the vinegar mix in a low oven overnight. I did mine during the day and heated it for 7 hours.

At the end of heating, strain the berries from the mix and boil again for 10 mins with the following added:

1 onion chopped finely
1 tbsp peppercorns
1 tsp cloves

After boiling, bottle the liquid (including the spices).

Now leave for 7 years.

No, seriously. This the advised leaving time but I think mine will be getting tasted before 7 years!

Now to find something to sample it with!

Thank you to my foraging helpers, I couldn't do it without you!

I am devoting this post to the people who help me most in foraging, my Parents!

Without my Parents, especially my Mam, I wouldn't get as much food from the wild or find as many new places. In fact, without my Mam I wouldn't have found Sloes, Elderberries/flowers, non-polluted haws or rose hips! And yes that is pretty much the whole of Autumns' bounty! I should also include rowan berries, because, although I had found some (in our garden) we had been told they were poisonous and I didn't want to chance it.
It was my Mam, and her pioneering spirit, that got talking to a guy picking rowans in the local village that confirmed they were edible.

I would advise any forager out there to rope in your friends and family and get them searching for you.

I'll admit, I'm lucky. My Dad goes hiking at least every week, making him excellent as a food scout. But, at the moment, my Mam is winning top banana because she is always spotting new places when she walks the dogs in our local hills.

When prepping your potential scout here some rough rules to use.

1. Don't boggle them. They aren't like you, they won't want to walk around with a reference book stuck to their nose. Only ask them to look for one thing at a time and give them clear instructions on what it looks like.
2. Get them to bring back samples. Then you can identify the plant properly without making a wasted trip.
3. Make sure you get a good idea of the location. A rose hip bush can be well tucked away and you may not be able to return with your scout.
   
4. Don't get them to forage for you. This is VERY lazy! It is, however, acceptable if they offer to pick.
5. Pay them. No not money, that would be weird. Make sure you give them some of the fruits of your and their labour e.g. give them a jar of the bramble jam you made with their help. This has the added benefit of boosting their enthusiasm so they may be more willing in the future!

Involve those you know you'll have more fruitful foraging! ;)