Eating & Drinking

Otterton Mill restaurant serves food garnished with weeds (news)

06th October 2009

Wild flora has gone on the menu at the Devon restaurant that has already served up fried squirrel.

Ed Chester, pictured, executive chef at Otterton Mill, has started serving dishes including wild plants sourced from forager Robin Harford as part of a local sourcing policy.

Ed said: “It’s very exciting to have a huge list of new ingredients to include in the dishes we prepare fresh each day for our customers. Robin has opened my eyes to a world of wild plants with massive nutritional and flavour value.

“The feedback from customers has been amazing and we’re all enjoying tasting something different. Last weekend our Devon rarebit with wild mushrooms, adorned with pesto made with horseradish leaves, sold out in minutes.”

Robin, who lives near Otterton Mill in East Devon, collects his bounty of over 40 edible seeds and plants from hedgerows, commons and footpaths in the area.

“I can’t wait to see what Robin brings me each day,” said Ed. “Invariably it’s something I’ve never tried before and sometimes it’s a plant I’ve never heard of.

“Most of us today have completely lost touch with our hunter-gatherer roots. I am keen to use wild plants which would once have featured in the diets of our ancestors.”

Mill owners Caroline and Simon Spiller are fully behind the menu. Simon said: “We are delighted to have wild plants on the menu. Ed’s passion for wild food has been a very positive move for the mill.

“It fits so well with our sustainable sourcing practices and customers have been very keen to try new dishes.”

Wild food dishes will also be available to sample at the mill’s Apple and Game Fair, on Saturday, October 24.

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