Boiled Nettle Pudding

Origin: Ancient      Period: Traditional

It's not known for certain what the ancient peoples of Europe — the Celts especially — ate with their meat (we know from both Roman commentaries and from later Cymric and Irish legends that meat and beer formed a large part of their diets). These peoples also used what we'd call 'one pot cooking' and stews were popular (as they are in almost all Celtic regions today). Another popular modern Celtic dish is the clooty pudding as the Scots call it [they're pwdin clwt in Welsh].

Essentially these are large dumplings flavoured with herbs and boiled in a muslin bag along with the meat. As these are made with either flour or oatmeal and a mixture of herbs it's undeniable that all the requisite ingredients were available to our ancestors. These can also be cooked in the same water as used to boil a joint of meat (indeed, the boiling joint imparts its own flavour on the pudding). It seems probable to me that our parsimonious ancestors did not boil such 'puddings' along with their meat. After all this was an easy form of carbohydrate in an age where potatoes would not be known for another fifteen centuries or more.

Ingredients:

4 tbsp finely-chopped sorrel
1 bunch watercress, finely chopped
½ cup young dandelion leaves, finely chopped
½ cup young nettle leaves, finely chopped
2 tbsp savory, finely chopped
4 tbsp ramsons or chives, finely chopped
240g barley flour
½ tsp sea salt, or to taste

As always, if you're not completely certain in recognizing a wild plant, do not pick it. However, this basic guide to wild edible plants is provided as a basic guide.

Method:

Preparation

Place the flour and salt in a large bowl then add the finely-chopped herbs and mix together thoroughly with a fork. Add just enough water (for a different flavour you can also substitute beer) so that the mixture comes together as a stiff dough.

Tip the dough into the centre of a muslin cloth which then needs to be drawn-up tightly around the pudding before being securely tied-off at the top. Leave enough string free so that it's easy to pull the pudding out of the pot in which it's cooked.

Add the pudding to a pot of boiling simmering meat (beef, mutton or any strongly-flavoured game is best). Leave the pudding to cook until the meat is done (at least two hours), leave the pudding to cool slightly, remove the muslin then cut the pudding into thick slices with a knife and serve as you would a slice of bread.

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