GALLERY

nomadicdinners

The nights are drawing in and the days are getting

The nights are drawing in and the days are getting shorter. We used to dread this time of year but one thing we have learnt over the last two years is that there is beauty to be found when the seasons shift, when you can feel your breath first thing in the morning, when leaves form a dazzling array of colours and slowly drift to the ground, when chestnuts, sloes, hawthorn abound and when mushrooms carpet the forest floor. Yes, this is Autumn, and, for many of us it will be more difficult than usual but there is still beauty to be found all around us. 📷@sandywood

🍁ALEHOOF, SOLDIERS WOUNDWORT & NETTLE TEMPURA 🍁 New to our Autumn menu is this wild herb tempura served with a small amount of kombu dashi to give an umami kick. @handmade_apothecary picked young nettles (the old ones are tough and will give you a bit of a stomach ache), ground ivy (which interestingly isn’t an ivy at all and is actually part of the mint family) & yarrow from the surrounding field and amongst the hedgerows which @ruaridhemslie then deep fried in batter. The recipe can also be made vegan by substituting the egg in the tempura batter. All three ingredients have a very intense medicinal flavour when picked raw (yarrow is an astringent and ground ivy was originally used in brewing before hops were discovered) We have found using them as a tempura creates a more subtle earthy flavour which is a lot more palatable than the intense taste you would get when eating each ingredient raw. 📷@sandywood

Who said vegetables were boring? Sep ‘19 with @o

Who said vegetables were boring? Sep ‘19 with @oliahercules

🔥NEW FEAST ANNOUNCED - 28TH NOV🔥. Due to hig

🔥NEW FEAST ANNOUNCED - 28TH NOV🔥. Due to high demand we are pleased to release an extra date for our Festive Forage Feast ❄️. We’re looking forward to wrapping up warm in blankets around the fire pit, toasting marshmallows and cracking open this years mulled infusions. Due to current restrictions places are extremely limited and will be made available on a strictly first come first serve basis (for more details on our COVID booking policy please see our website) . 🌲TO BOOK HEAD TO OUR WEBSITE ⬆️🌲📷@georgina_cope

Humus ‘Masabacha’ by chef @tomerhauptman from

Humus ‘Masabacha’ by chef @tomerhauptman from our #feastoverfire last summer ☀️. Those who attended our online tutorial earlier this spring with legendary chef @erezkom will know ‘musabaha’ as a delicious variation of traditional humus using whole chickpeas to add depth of flavour and plenty of lemon juice, salt, garlic and olive oil to season. Hopefully one day Erez will be able to visit us and create his own version. We served generous portions with burnt aubergine that we cooked directly on charcoal and beech wood in our sunken firepit. This gives it a lovely smoky flavour. We waited until the skin blistered and it softened all the way through then served it with a fluffy & doughy warm flatbread which we prepared on the plancha (one day we will get round to buying a taboon)🔥 📷@catherine_frawley

Canapé by from last summers epic feast in our wo

Canapé by from last summers epic feast in our woodland with @stuart_deeley - Smoked Salmon Belly Tart, Soy Emulsion, 🍏radish. 📷@georgina_cope

Amethyst Decevier 🍄. The amethyst deceiver is a

Amethyst Decevier 🍄. The amethyst deceiver is a beautiful purple mushroom that is currently growing all over our woodland floor hidden amongst the leaves and is ubiquitous across woodlands in Britain. Better still it’s an edible species although it can be confused with several highly poisonous mushrooms such as certain small pale ochre or fawn mushrooms, so it is always best to exercise caution when foraging for these beauties and seeking the advice of an expert. We find the colour absolutely mesmerising. It makes an amazing addition to any dish although it does lose some of the colour when being cooked through and you do need to pick a lot of it to make anything substantial. Have you come across amethyst deceiver? What do you think? 🔥#funwithfungi #amethystdeceiver

Hraime 🐟🌶. Have you heard of a dish called h

Hraime 🐟🌶. Have you heard of a dish called hraime (pronounced h-rime-ay)? Well we hadn’t until @tomerhauptman introduced it to us last August. Hraime is a spicy fish stew with tomatoes originally from the Maghreb. The name of the dish comes from the Arabic word for "hot" and it certainly packed a punch. The stew which is packed full of spices such as paprika, cumin, caraway and ripened tomato’s was left to slowly simmer on a large pot over beech wood and coals on our fire pit whilst river trout was seared over a high heat on a plancha over the fire then rested. We served it with some beautifully fluffy challah bread and a sprig of mint from our herb patch. 📷@catherine_frawley

Due to limited capacity and unprecedented demand t

Due to limited capacity and unprecedented demand tickets for our Festive Foraged Feasts this winter are selling fast. Check out our website ⬆️ for further details. Inset is @tomerhauptman creation from last weekends feast. A flourless chocolate cake with brandied flambé plums 📷@sandywood

Canapes from last weekends 🍄fungi, forage, feas

Canapes from last weekends 🍄fungi, forage, feast. Grilled hen of the wood with a cep aoli by the amazing @tomerhauptman 📷@sandywood

@strongmanstipple 🍓strawberry negroni in all it

@strongmanstipple 🍓strawberry negroni in all its delicious glory taking pride of place in our woodland. Definitely worth checking these guys out, we’re really proud to work with them & they are doing some incredible things 🔥. 📷@sandywood

‘River Trout Papillote’ by @tomerhauptman garn

‘River Trout Papillote’ by @tomerhauptman garnished with generous portions of chanterelle & black trumpet mushrooms. The fish was wrapped in a paper pouch with generous portions of butter then gently baked over embers to seal in the flavour. Scroll ▶️ to see the cooking. 📷@sandywood

🍁Autumn in a bowl 🍁. @tomerhauptman wild mus

🍁Autumn in a bowl 🍁. @tomerhauptman wild mushroom soup with black trumpet and chanterelles from last weekends fungi, forage, feast captured beautifully 📷 by @sandywood

🍄MYCOLOGICAL MAGIC 🍄. A foray into fungi for

🍄MYCOLOGICAL MAGIC 🍄. A foray into fungi foraging with @londonwildfruits followed by a fabulous four course fire feast 🔥 by the fantastic @tomerhauptman was the agenda for this Saturday and it didn’t disappoint. Guests learnt about the incredible healing properties of birch poly pore, got up close and personal with a false death cap ☠️ and were dazzled by a bright purple (and edible) amethyst deceiver. The menu for the day was a grilled 🐔hen of the woods canapé on sourdough toast (4th picture ▶️), wild mushroom broth slow cooked with black trumpet & chanterelles, a braised mushroom polenta with generous portions of freshly shaved parmesan (one of our guests even brought along his own mushrooms he had picked the day before to sprinkle on top), river trout ‘papillote’ wrapped up and steamed over the fire with lots of butter sprinkled with mushrooms and a mouthwatering flourless chocolate cake with brandy flambé plums to finish. We can’t wait to share some of the photos over the next few days. Have you tried any of the (edible) mushrooms pictured in the photos? 📷@sandywood

Well, well, well. Look what finally decided to sho

Well, well, well. Look what finally decided to show up. Hello weekend ❤️. 📷@sandywood

2020. What a year to be alive. Whilst many continu

2020. What a year to be alive. Whilst many continue to focus on the negatives we continually focus on the positive. 2020 is a year that has made us each more grateful for what we have and taught us humility. It has been a stark reminder of humankind’s vulnerability and given us the opportunity to readdress some key issues this planet is facing. Maybe it has made us more altruistic - time will tell. For many we find ourselves in situation without a job for the first time in decades. We re-evaluate the choices we have made and the path we have taken with a completely different perspective and begin along a new path with a different purpose. For others, like this beautiful couple here, this year has simply meant spending more time together, taking pleasure in the simple things in life and reminding ourselves that we are in fact a part of nature, not apart from it. 📷@sandywood

Throwback to Summer ‘18 & this Eton Mess by @eya

Throwback to Summer ‘18 & this Eton Mess by @eyalj 🔥. Looking forward to getting back to this one day... 📷@catherine_frawley

Thanks to all our guests who visited @drambuie Bot

Thanks to all our guests who visited @drambuie Bothy this summer. We’re looking forward to having guests stay again 🏕 when the bluebells arrive next year. There is still, however, the small matter of what to do around Xmas which is one we have been thinking hard about. One option is to create a winter woodland cocktail bar 🍸serving up festive elixirs and fabulous concoctions for our guests using some of the wild ingredients picked from our surroundings. Guests would sit around a series of large fire bowls🔥 on wooden logs wrapped with warm blankets in their ‘bubble’. We could even have some live acoustic music 🎻 performances. Another idea is to transform the inside of the Bothy into a luxury private dining space for a group of up to 6 people with a Michelin standard chef creating a festive menu for each group and paring this with some delicious @drambuie cocktails. The inside of the Bothy gets nice and toasty when the wood burning stove is lit up so it’s a lovely place to be when the winter cold gets in. Another option could be accommodation for couples after their feast with us. We would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions of what we should do in the comments section below ⬇️

“We’re running out of time” - @davidattenbor

“We’re running out of time” - @davidattenborough In the lifetime of @davidattenborough the human population has more than tripled, the #rainforests have depleted & the global temperature has risen faster than any time in the last 12,000 years. Polar ice caps have began to melt and coral reefs, once a dazzling array of colours are now brittle & grey, a result of the rising acidity in our ocean. In the last 50 years alone we have lost on average 68% of our wildlife. Today, rainforests occupy only 2 percent of the entire Earth's surface, yet they support over half of our planet's wild plants and trees and one-half of the world's wildlife. We are continuing to lose them at an alarming rate. We humans are a threat unto ourselves. We are facing the next mass extinction and if we carry on down the same trajectory our children and grand children will at best never see an elephant or a zebra or a giraffe except in a picture book and at worst will witness the end of the natural world on a fragile blue planet 30,000 light years from the centre of our galaxy. We must act now. The science is known. We must 1. REWILD. Reintroduce wildlife wherever possible on our planet. Costa Rica provides an excellent example of a country that has done this successfully. 2. END OUR DEPENDENCY ON FOSSIL FUELS. There is enough solar energy on this plant to support our population 30x over. We need to begin a new revolution and governments and banks must support and subsidise businesses who are focused on bringing about this change. 3. REDUCE OUR MEAT CONSUMPTION. There is simply not enough meat on the planet to feed 7.6 Billion people. For those of us who choose to eat meat, we should focus on eating less and preferably wild which is both better for our health and has a much lower carbon footprint. 4. GROW YOUR OWN This wasn’t mentioned in the film but one way we can all reduce our carbon footprint is to grow our own fruit and vegetables. This ensures we eat seasonally minimising the distance our food has to travel to get to us and places a reduced burden on agriculture.

🔥LIGHTING FIRES 🔥. We’ve been busy lightin

🔥LIGHTING FIRES 🔥. We’ve been busy lighting fires. Making plans for the year ahead. We are working on a whole host of new edible experiences in epic locations for our intrepid guests ready to explore new culinary horizons. We won’t be able to tell you about these until after the New Year though once plans are finalised. If you’re keen to be the first to know head to our website and subscribe. We think you will like what we have in store... 📷@catherine_frawley

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