The other month I thought about offering a recipe for ground elder and tatty pie, and then I decided better of it. Thoughts of men in long black flowing coats tramping the streets in the hours of darkness, grunting under the strain of pulling handcarts behind them and the constant noise of the solitary hand bell, only to stop at the doors that had a red cross painted on them, to be followed by the men shouting “Bring out your dead.” seemed to put me off a bit.

Another freebie that I steer well clear of is wild mushrooms, unless you are the well-known mushroom man Mr. Peter Jordon from the area of Burnham Market. He knows wild mushrooms inside out and has written a wonderful book on the subject, but even with the aid of the book’s pictures of wild mushrooms in fine colour I would find if very difficult to say which ones are edible. I think its better to be safe than sorry. There is of course, if you are willing to look for it, a rich larder full of free goodies just waiting to be had if only you know where to look. With a little bit of time and knowledge there are lots of perfectly edible free food out there that can be yours for the taking and I don't mean going through the bins round the back of Tesco’s. No, just take a walk in the countryside, of course if its on private land seek permission first, and walk slowly along the hedgerows.

On my last fishing trip I spotted wild blackberries, an old cherry tree that had lost most of it’s fruit on the ground, rose hips, and lots of elderberries laden with plump black berries. You know the ones, loved by birds that seem to take great pleasure in unloading their ill-gotten gains over my car. But to anybody with time on his or her hands the berries are just the job for making the odd bottle of wine. Also I spotted, at the side of the fast running stream, fresh watercress and on the bank was an abundance of wild fennel. These are just a few of the freebies to be had. Take these with the free wild trout I had that day fishing and put them all together. I could have had a meal of wild trout cooked with fennel garnished with a fresh water cress salad followed by a nice cherry tart all washed down with a cracking glass or two of elderberry and rose hip wine. Not bad for free.

Running a restaurant in a village like Heacham has its advantages. Often there is a tap on the back door of the kitchen and a voice will say, “Thought you might be able to make use of these. Grown a tad too many.” On inspection there is a box of green beans, and after a little bit of bartering the fellow that had scratched his head that morning over his bean mountain was a little bit richer and I was pleased to have a box of freshly picked beans for the restaurant. It was just a few weeks ago that two young lads turned up and banged on the door in question, “Can you use these, mister? Mother said you could.”  Once again a few bob was exchanged. I don't even think that the lads had realised what mother had sent them down with; it was a couple of freshly dug horseradish roots and of course it was the real stuff. When it was cleaned and prepared it made a mind-blowing horseradish sauce. A blob of the creamy mixture was tested out on the commis chef. We all thought that he was demonstrating to us a new dance craze but not so. After two pints of water, that he consumed in five seconds, he was able to speak again and we got the thumbs up and the impression that it was good stuff. But on reflection, he said that he still preferred the milder one that his mum gets in a jar from the shop.

I am not suggesting that we should all tramp the fields and country lanes in search of food for the table, but I jokingly said to a old friend of mine the other day, what if you were left in the middle of the countryside with only a spear, how would you go on for feeding yourself. His reply was “Ok I suppose, as long as there was a pub within a mile or so, and the landlord would be happy to exchange my spear in lieu of cash so I could buy a beef burger. A bit sad I thought as wild food comes with a guarantee unlike his beef burger and cultivated food. Wild foods are in the main, pure and un-tampered with and more to the point they are natural. So when the wind is whistling around your hollyhocks and a force eight gale is going on outside pop on the green wellies, and head off down a country lane, and don't forget, wild food is more that just something for free, its something for everybody.

You will need about half a carrier bag full of nettle tops; wash them well in a bowl and discard any thick stalks. Next melt 55g of butter in a saucepan and add two finely diced white onions plus one large diced carrot, two sticks of chopped celery stalks and one clove of crushed garlic (optional).

Allow this to cook until soft, then pop one litre of good chicken stock into the pan followed by the clean nettle tops, bring to the boil and simmer for ten minutes or until the nettles are tender. Turn off the heat and season with salt and pepper. Next thing you do is puree the soup in the liquidiser and return to a clean pan. Add a few tablespoons of fresh double cream to the soup and re-check the seasoning for taste. If the soup is slightly thin, thicken with a little corn flour dissolved in water. Serve warm in a large bowl with crusty warm bread.

Good luck.