Ray Mears' Wild Food (on television)

[jon r]

I agree, the best one so far!

Those sorrel tarts made me laugh! When ray taisted the mixture i saw him pull a face as if it taisted bad and then he said "taists good" Did you see that?!

I was also suprised to see ray doing a bit of modern cooking with pre-made pastery etc!

The stew looked great too!

jon

 

[pibbleb]

My wife has become a Gordon groupie! I'm a little scared :yikes:

Seriously though, it was probably the most enjoyable episode, in that I think I could relate or recognise more of the plants.

I missed the beginning did they mention where they were? I'm assuming not this Country and thinking somewhere like Poland, why I don't know probably coz I missed the beginning.

P

 

[surfpirate]

Whilst it is always a pleasure to watch Ray I was a little disappointed with tonights show. All those fold up tables and deck chairs, and cooking pots enough for a field kitchen. We didn't see Ray use his bow and arrow (apart from shooting it at a leg of very dead lamb) all those berries what happened to those? Surely he could have knocked up some kind of dessert with those? The venison casserole looked fantastic, but why not use some more wild ingredients in it? Carrots,celery onions? None of these ingredients were available to our Mesolithic ancestors. Maybe Ray had just gotten fed up with Lily seed or Sedge grass cakes and biscuits? Good bits about flint tools though and Gordon was on form as well I agree with Boosh he could become a cult in his own right, a sort of David Bellamey type.

 

[Dougster]

I missed the beginning did they mention where they were? I'm assuming not this Country and thinking somewhere like Poland, why I don't know probably coz I missed the beginning.

P

The credits mentioned 'Highland Park' wherever that may be. He did say it was in the UK several times, and Lingonberrys are more common in Scotland.

 

[pibbleb]

Thanks Dougster, I'd missed the hints and did think my thought process more than a little off when the Gurkha's turned up. I'm guessing you don't to get many of them to the pound kicking around Poland!

I found the wood ant nest something of an odd treat! and this is why I was thinking it my not be UK, I have never seen a wood ant nest that big.

I believe they can get bigger still in Central Europe, have I just been lucky or unlucky whilst? Has anyone else come across these and have you ever raided it?

P

 

[jon r]

There art Two Highland parks in Scotland, just looked it up

 

[penvisser]

Was this the last episode of the serie, I didn't hear anything about next week??

He could have used less knives, I think, i counted at least 4 different knives.

 

[falcon]

:

I found the wood ant nest something of an odd treat! and this is why I was thinking it my not be UK, I have never seen a wood ant nest that big.

I believe they can get bigger still in Central Europe, have I just been lucky or unlucky whilst? Has anyone else come across these and have you ever raided it?

P

I've found several in a large Forestry Commission wood not far away but no, I haven't raided one...

 

[bushtank]

My favuorite Highland Park is the single malt

 

[Biddlesby]

Australia, Coast, Wetland, Summer. There should be five so presumably one next week.

I agree, the best one so far!

Those sorrel tarts made me laugh! When ray taisted the mixture i saw him pull a face as if it taisted bad and then he said "taists good" Did you see that?!

Haha yes I thought that too!

I thought this was the most captivating episode so far. Somehow the meat added an element of seriousness to it. I don't feel disappointed at all by a modern camp. What was the whole process again with the sedge?

Those gurkhas really got things done!

So which month is it best to raid a wood ant nest?

 

[jamesoconnor]

It was Highland wildlife park I believe. Been there before doing some photography. Lovely place. Infact that whole area is beautiful. Heres a link...
http://www.highlandwildlifepark.org/

James

 

[pibbleb]

Nice link Jamesoconnor. I bet those Bison are impressive! Cred coming your way!

p

 

[bambodoggy]

I found the wood ant nest something of an odd treat! and this is why I was thinking it my not be UK, I have never seen a wood ant nest that big.

I haven't seen the show yet but we've got plently of nests big enough to raid by us and I've seen several down in Ashdown forest too. Myself and some mates tried in late march (we knew it was early but it was a warm spring that year and the ants were moving about rather a lot so we thought we'd try) but it was way to early....but mid May there was plenty of larvee to harvest.

I've done this several times and they really do taste very good but remember not to do it too often (as with all wild foods) particularly in the same place or you risk recking the ecosystem.

Enjoy......

Bam.

 

[pibbleb]

Bam thanks for that, I feel a trip to Ashdown Forest coming on.

But there was me thinking I'm observant I must walk around with my eyes closed! Feeling a bit of a biff at the mo.

P

 

[falling rain]

I haven't seen the show yet but we've got plently of nests big enough to raid by us and I've seen several down in Ashdown forest too. Myself and some mates tried in late march (we knew it was early but it was a warm spring that year and the ants were moving about rather a lot so we thought we'd try) but it was way to early....but mid May there was plenty of larvee to harvest.

I've done this several times and they really do taste very good but remember not to do it too often (as with all wild foods) particularly in the same place or you risk recking the ecosystem.

Enjoy......

Bam.

I've come across wood ants nests many times down in Dartmoor too. There's a fair few of them down there. I have never harvested them though, although I knew you could from when RM did this before but i can't remember which one it was .......maybe Belarus episode from extreme survival
personally (and it's just my opinion) I can't justify to myself ripping one apart just to try, but if I was in a survival situation it would be different of course. I know the ants re-build the nest but it's unnecessary in my opinion unless you were desparate for food.
I believe the nests are also orientated to the north side of the tree also to allow maximum shade for the larvae or is it south to ensure warmth. Can't remember which way round it is but I do remember something about this.
Excellent episode again though the best so far from this series.

 

[billycan]

I think the episode was filmed in various different locations and then edited together to look roughly like they were staying in one place.
At one point they were somewhere up north or europe somewhere hence wolves, and they shot the deer and gralloched it and ate the liver.

He then went to scotland for a bit, raiding wood ants nests (loads of them about there) and gathering berries etc,

Then came down south i think probably east sussex, woodlore area as the deer was a different one and the colour indicated it had been hanging already elsewhere, it was also a different size when they hung it up in the net.

However as i said i think they very cleverly edited it and narrated it to look like one location. What do you think

 

[pibbleb]

Falling Rain I agree about the not raiding a wood ant nest but I was interested to see if anyone had done it particularly as I've never even come across a nest, but the thing that is really troubling me is that I've never come across one

And the more people post about there being loads where they are isn't helping!

 

[mark a.]

I also thought it was the best in the series so far. Gordon is definitely getting more used to the camera, and as people say he's actually quite funny!

I assumed that the credit to the Highland Park was just for the shots of the Bison. There's also a place in the UK where they have wolves (my father in law is doing a "Walking with Wolves" experience this year sometime. I thought that the woods may have been Surrey, what with the sandy soil and the army chaps (although whether there are Gurkhas around here I don't know).

Who knows.

It's been interesting overall, and I'm now looking forward to the next episode.

 

[pibbleb]

I've been out of it for a while but there were certainly always Gurkhas at Sandhurst and there were some in Colchester for a spell.

P

 

[gregorach]

Yeah, nothing handier in camp than a team of Gurkhas!

Favourite line of the show: "Well, we're not wearing our headtorches - I think that makes it a formal dinner."