Richard Mabey 3 out of 5
A British classic, this book is responsible for re-introducing many UK citizens to the delights of our native, wild foods. First published in 1972 processed and fast food was on the ascendancy and the trends of collecting your own food, traceability and organic foods of recent times were a long way off.
Presented in a season by season format this book is still a worthwhile resource, although it isn’t as comprehensive as Wild Food by Roger Phillips it’s still an interesting read focusing especially on history, traditions and even medicinal uses for the plants and fungi listed as well as culinary uses and (a few) recipes. Like Wild Food this guide only contains information on plants and fungi and not anything “alive”!
Photography in Food for Free is excellent with clear, sharp photos excellent for identification purposes, of the individual plants or fungi in their specific habitats.
Being considerably smaller than Wild Food it’s a great book for those who are interested in wild foods, but don’t intend to make it a full time hobby.
Note: This guide is not adequate for those intending to collect wild mushrooms and fungi, there are thousands of species of wild mushrooms in Europe some of which closely resemble edible species. When mushroom collecting have with you either a comprehensive field guide such as “Mushrooms” by Roger Phillips (again) or a book which compares edible varieties with their inedible or poisonous cousins like Antonio Carluccio’s “A Passion for Mushrooms”…both of these books will be reviewed later on this site.
Buy now from: Amazon UK
