Wild garlic and sesame soda bread with wild garlic miso butter

I’m not a seasoned forager. In fact, you’ll only find me scouring the banks of the River Lea twice a year - hunting for wild garlic in March and frilly elderflower blooms in June. When I am out looking for nature’s bounty, eyes locked to the ground in search of those hopeful shiny green leaves, I do find myself harbouring a new appreciation for the plants that manage to come back, year after year, despite quite challenging conditions (read: festivals, half marathons, weekend sports matches, canal-side parties etc).

Foraging in a city can also be a health hazard. Images of plentiful wild garlic in peaceful-looking woodland patches that I see on social media are not what I encounter each spring. Instead, I’m avoiding broken plastic (does this mean my wild garlic contains microplastics?? probably) glass bottles and, inevitably, condom wrappers. However, there’s something quite nice about wild garlic growing defiantly amongst the mess. It’s a bit like real-life Animal Crossing, scanning the island for weeds and clipping them to store in your backpack for homemade creations back at camp.

Once back in my flat, it’s hard to believe this little bag of floppy, gently scented leaves took me 30 minutes of searching to find before plucking them from the banks of a B road. I was lucky this time and managed to snag a decent haul (leaving plenty for other garlic-seekers and my forest friends to enjoy, of course). However, I’ve not always been so fortunate and so I’ve decided to write two recipes - one for wild garlic feast years, and one for famine.

For those with plenty of leaves to spare, a wild garlic and sesame soda bread that’ll take just a couple of lazy afternoon hours. If you’ve only a handful, then making my wild garlic miso butter is a delicious and speedy way to use them. The method for making the bread is inspired by Clodagh McKenna’s trick - always use a fork. At a recent event I attended, she advised the audience that her grandmother only used a fork to mix the dough, and it made for the most delicious soda bread texture. I’m inclined to agree.

You’ll see the butter uses only the wild garlic, and not grated garlic cloves as many other recipes do. This is because I want the delicate, grassy flavour of the wild garlic to shine through and marry with the miso. And because I don’t want you to get garlic breath.

Makes 1 loaf + 200g butter block

250g wholemeal flour
200g plain flour
50g rolled oats
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp salt
50g wild garlic
250g natural yoghurt
150ml whole milk
2 tbsp sesame seeds

For the wild garlic miso butter

200g unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
15g wild garlic
5g flat-leaf parsley
Zest of 1/2 a lemon
2 tsp miso paste
1/2 tsp salt

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan). Line a large baking tray with baking parchment.

2. Add the flours, oats, bicarbonate of soda and salt to a large mixing bowl. Mix to combine with a fork and set aside.

3. Thoroughly wash, dry and roughly chop the wild garlic. Add to the mixing bowl and combine with the dry mixture. Make a well in the middle.

4. Mix the yoghurt and milk together and add to the well, leaving around 1 tbsp at the bottom of the bowl for later. Stir to combine with the fork, then use your hands to knead lightly in the bowl until the dough comes together in a smooth-ish ball.

5. Tip onto the prepared tray and flatten slightly. Using a pastry brush (or drizzle on using a spoon if you don’t have one) coat the bread in the leftover milky yoghurt. Sprinkle over the sesame seeds and a little more salt.

6. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 200°C (180°C fan) and bake for a further 35 minutes.

7. Once baked, remove from the oven and allow to almost fully cool on a wire rack before slicing.

To make the wild garlic miso butter

Put all the ingredients into a food processor and blitz until smooth.