PHOTOGRAPHS DAVID CHARBIT
delicious. 2017 PRODUCE AWARDS WINNER
WHAT OUR FINAL JUDGING PANEL SAID
”Good fleshy texture and a fresh, zingy flavour with wonderful citrus notes.”
With his bushy red beard and kind smile, Wross was easy to pick out from the crowd at Brighton station, our meeting point for the afternoon’s foray. I recognised Wross’s face from his Instagram account – but what I wasn’t prepared for was the powerful aroma of garlic that greeted me as I climbed into his blue van. With 20kg wild garlic leaves stacked in the back – from his morning’s foraging – there was no need to lock up; no one was going to nick this vehicle. By the time we got to our destination, I felt (and no doubt smelled) as though I’d been thoroughly marinated in garlic and was ready for the slow cooker.
Our sea purslane search took place on the tidal estuary of the River Adur, beautiful coastal wilds near the town of Shoreham-by-Sea. You couldn’t conjure a prettier image of the English coast. At low tide there’s a sandy beach, and the surface of the river has a silvery sheen. There were a pair of swans, a heron, a falcon wheeling overhead; dog walkers and cyclists going about their business to an exuberant soundtrack of birdsong.