Читать книгу Food for Free - Richard Mabey - Страница 10

Оглавление

A conical evergreen when young and growing vigorously, up to 36 m (118 ft), becoming much more open, and flat-topped with a long bole, when older. Red- or grey-brown bark low down on the trunk, but markedly red or orange higher up in mature trees. Irregular branches, with needles in bunches of two, grey-green or blue-green, up to 7 cm (2½ inches) long. Native to Scotland, and originally much of Britain, as well as much of Europe and Asia.

A winemaker with patience and ingenuity might be able to devise a way of making a kind of retsina by steeping in a white wine base the resin that oozes from the bark of the Scots pine. But it is the needles that are the principal food interest of this tree, because of their strong and refreshing fragrance.

The Scots pine is our only truly indigenous pine, native in parts of Scotland and widely planted and naturalised elsewhere. The needles are quite distinctive, being much shorter than those of other species of pine, grey-green in colour and arranged in rather twisted pairs along the twigs. But the needles of any type of pine will do for cooking, provided they are gathered when fairly young, between April and August.

Anyone who has the patience to extract the tiny nuts from the pine cones will find this nail-breaking work rewarded by a pleasant wayside snack. (The pine nuts used in cookery come from the Mediterranean stone pine, pinus pinea.)

Pine needle tea

Tea made from pine needles is a favourite American wild food beverage, though it has a decidedly medicinal taste. Take about 2 tablespoons of fresh needles, and steep in a cup of hot water for about 5 minutes. Strain and add honey and lemon juice to taste.

Pine needle oil

A recipe for an aromatic oil which makes good use of pine needles’ strong resinous scent simply involves soaking the needles in olive oil for a week or two; the resultant oil is superb for making into French dressings or for cooking meat in.

Подняться наверх