How to step up your cooking right now with foraged food
A new wave of foragers have brought fresh interest in gathering wild ingredients. Videos containing the hashtag ‘foragingtiktok’ have racked up millions of views on TikTok. Many foragers share their tips online, so we asked them what we should be looking for this autumn. Blackberries No autumn foraging guide would be complete without blackberries. “They are the perfect place to start”, says forager Fern Freud. Rinse and eat them raw, pop them into your porridge, or make an apple and blackberry crumble. To enjoy them all year, freeze them, make blackberry jam, boil them with sugar and white vinegar to make a vinaigrette for salads, or make blackberry-infused gin or vodka. Look for crab apple trees, wild apples found in woodland and hedgerows, to make hedgerow jam – you can add any wild berries, including blackberries. Elderberries The trees that provide elderflowers in summer (hello, elderflower cordial) can also be harvested for their dark, rich berries in autumn. The elder tree is found on the outskirts of woodland, along footpaths and in people’s gardens (but don’t take what’s not yours!). You can spot it because “the leaves always grow in leaflets of two opposite pairs, with one pinnate leaf (a leaf resembling a feather) at the top”, says Freud. “Trees with similar berries have a different leaf pattern”, she adds. Simmer elderberries in a little water with sugar to make cordial or syrup, then shake with ice and vodka to make cocktails. Add them to cooked autumn puds, such as an apple pie or apple crumble. They can also be stewed and served on the side of roast meats, such as duck, pork or game. Chef Galton Blackiston adds them to his venison jus (made from frying venison in oil and butter), but you can make this sauce using any meat. However, elderberries can be toxic when eaten raw. Detaching the berries from their stems can be fiddly, but a good trick is to “freeze them in clusters, then take the berries off with a fork”, says forager from the Isle of Wight, Alex Richards. Rosehips Rosehips are the fruit of wild roses. “The fully red and ripe hips (fruit) of all the species can be used”, says professional forager Fergus Drennan. During the World Wars, many imported fruits and vegetables, such are oranges, were scarce, so rosehip syrup became a popular vitamin C replacement. Children were encouraged to gather rosehips (for reportedly three pennies per pound of produce during World War Two – about 35 pence today) for factories to make the syrup. Rosehips are bright red, often tear-drop-shaped berries. The plant has thorns that “curve back towards the base of the plant”, says Freud. These can be quite large and very sharp, so be careful when picking. Some people grow rosehips in their garden, but wild rosehips can be found in hedgerows from the end of summer through autumn. They are a little fiddly to prepare, as there are scratchy ‘hairs’ on the inside which need to be filtered out of whatever you make as they can cause an irritant reaction. Drennen boils rosehips until soft, mashes them, and strains the liquid through a cloth (you could also use a coffee filter), discarding the flesh. Sloes Sloes grow on the blackthorn bush. These dark purple-blue fruits look a little like large blueberries or very small round plums, with a whiteish bloom. As the tree’s name suggests, it has very large, black thorns, so be careful when picking. Depending on when you pick the sloes, the bush may or may not have leaves. “Sloes should be picked after the first frost, but if you want to pick them sooner you can just pop them in the freezer before you use them”, says Richards. Sloe gin is the most popular way to use the berries – it will taste good by this Christmas, but even better by the next. Other sloe recipes include sauces and jellies. Similar to sloes are round wild damsons called bullaces. These are slightly larger than sloes and the bushes don’t have thorns, making them easy to pick. They are much sweeter than sloes, although less interesting and still a little too tart to eat raw. However, cooked as part of hedgerow jelly or in a fruit leather, where you needn’t tediously stone them, they are very handy. Cobnuts Cobnuts are a type of hazelnut grown in the UK. The oval-shaped nut is half-covered by a papery, green husk over its shell. Both this and the shell need to be removed before eating. “When hazelnuts ripen they turn brown, and by that point, the squirrels will have nabbed them all”, says Freud, so “it’s best to pick a handful or two while they’re still slightly green and let them ripen fully at home” – September is the perfect time. Cobnuts can be eaten fresh or roasted in the oven for a deeper flavour. They can be cooked in cobnut cakes and autumn fruit crumbles, or blended with chocolate, sugar and cream to make a nutty chocolate spread. You can swap hazelnuts for cobnuts in any recipe. Store cobnuts in the fridge to preserve them for longer. Sweet chestnuts Sweet chestnuts are a renowned autumn and Christmas treat. The shiny nuts are encased in a spiky husk, and you’ll find them scattered around the base of chestnut trees. After a windy night, you are likely to spot a haul, says Megan Howlett, a forager from the South Downs. They are not to be confused with horse chestnut (conkers), which are inedible. The sweet chestnut husk has many more, very fine, spikes than a conker, which has short stumpy spikes. “Tread gently [(wearing shoes)] on the ‘sea urchin’-like burrs to release the nuts”, advises Richards. “November nuts are not worth saving until Christmas – they tend to dry up”, says Howlett, “so roast them and eat them as quickly as possible”, or freeze them for winter. The many dishes you can cook with chestnuts include salads, pies and stuffings. Nettles Nettles have been eaten for centuries. “The best time to pick [nettles] is spring, but they often have a second flush of new growth in the autumn”, says Richards. You can use nettles as you would spinach, for an earthy flavour, cooking them before they wilt. They first need to be de-stung and cleaned, and the easiest way to do this is to blanch them in boiling water for a minute and then rinse them before adding to dishes. Nettle soup is a favourite, and pesto is a great way to preserve any greens. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall makes a nettle risotto, but they can also be simply sautéed with garlic for a side. Drennan takes inspiration from chef Giorgio Locatelli, who showed him how to make nettle crisps at a BBC Children In Need event. “Pick the first two pairs of larger leaves from the top of the plant, deep-fry in vegetable oil for about 20 seconds, or until semi-translucent (not browned), transfer to absorbent paper, and sprinkle with salt”, he says. Wear gloves when picking nettles and avoid them if there is a chance they have been sprayed with chemicals, such as by a roadside. Forage responsibly Always be sure you can positively identify any plant before you pick it, and never eat a plant you are unsure of, as some are deadly. Only pick from areas that have a plentiful supply and have not been sprayed with chemicals, and ensure you leave plenty for wildlife. Britain’s wild plants are protected under the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act, which makes it illegal to dig up a plant. Check the law before you forage, or take part in a foraging class with an expert. Originally published September 2021. Updated September 2025* Want more? Visit BBC Food on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest or watch the latest Food TV programmes on BBC iPlayer.