WHO fancies dinner? You’ll have to get in your boots and get out into the Dorset countryside, then.

The county has been named as of the UK’s foraging hot-spots.

And to celebrate, foraging expert Caroline Davey has come up with a recipe using ingredients that can be found in the county.

She says more of us should get out into the wild and pick the produce nature has to offer.

“Start with species that are easy to identify like elderflowers, nettles and blackberries and once you have created some great things to eat you can build up the confidence to move onto slightly more unusual things.

“Only pick things you have a 100 per cent positive identification for. There are plants and fungi out there that can kill you so it’s important that you don’t take any chances.

“Buy yourself a wild flower identification guide and keep it in your bag or car so that wherever you go you can start to identify plants. The hardest part of foraging is plant identification and it takes lots of practice and repetition to get it right.”

But, what about those of us who are pushed for time? Surely a dash to the local supermarket is a lot easier.

“Start foraging in your own back yard,” says Caroline.

“You don’t have to travel miles to forage; you will find edible plants on your street, in your garden and in your local park.

“But follow a responsible foraging code. It is illegal to take rare plants listed under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. “Only take very common plants such as nettles and sorrel so that you won’t be responsible for depleting plant stocks.

“Don’t take the whole plant, but leave more than half of it to grow back.

“Do not trespass to forage for wild food. “Either get the landowner’s permission or stick to public footpaths.”

Caroline says that the Dorset coastline is a particularly good patch; low tides mean you can forage far into the reed and exposed rocks hide all sorts of edible shellfish and seaweed.

“Chesil beach is a particularly good place to go foraging and here you can discover sea campion, sea beet, sea radish and wild carrot.

“Kingcombe Meadows nature reserve is one of the best places in the country, with many edible fungi including rare wax caps.”

Where to eat foraged foods locally: l The trend for foraged food continues and many restaurants now make foraged food the focus of the menu, such as The Casterbridge, Dorchester, which was opened by MasterChef winner, Mat Follas, which serves delicious food using the best foraged ingredients.

The changing menu at The Green Restaurant, Sherborne also uses foraged ingredients.

Venison steak with blackberry sauce and Dorset horseradish and potato rosti Serves four.

Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 25 minutes

  • 4 venison steaks (use beef if you can’t source venison)
  • 1tsp black peppercorns l 1tsp dried mugwort (optional)
  • 225g blackberries
  • 425 ml chicken stock
  • 75 ml Gallo Family Vineyards Autumn Red
  • 4 tbsp sloe gin
  • 1 tsp blackberry jam
  • Lemon juice, to taste
  • 4 medium sized potatoes (maris piper are good for this)
  • Horseradish root (to taste)
  • Vegetable oil for frying
  • Salt and pepper Method Crush enough black peppercorns to give your venison a light coating, don’t make them too fine or the flavour will be overpowering.

Finely chop enough dried mugwort to do the same.

Mix the mugwort and pepper together and roll your venison in it, giving a light coating.

Leave in the fridge overnight or, if it is less than two hours before you cook the venison, leave it out on the side. If you do refrigerate the meat then make sure you take it out in good time for it to be at room temperature when you cook it.

Horseradish root and potato rosti: 1. Cut the potatoes in half and boil for 5 minutes 2. Remove from the pan and leave to drain and cool 3. Grate the potato with an ordinary grater 4. Grate some horseradish root into the mixture to taste and season with salt and pepper.

5. Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan, form the grated mix into patties and fry until golden. If you have problems with the mix falling apart try adding a little flour or egg 6. Keep warm in the oven until the venison is ready.

To cook the venison:
1. Season the meat with salt
2. Heat a large frying pan and cover with a film of oil
3. It should be just smoking. Add the venison steaks. Turn each piece as it colours – be careful not to let the pepper burn too much – and keep turning until the meat is well coloured
4. If you are cooking the meat to rare small steaks will take a matter of 2 or 3 minutes while larger ones will take under 10 minutes
5. Rest the meat for at least as long as it cooked for in a warm place and then slice across the grain. While the meat is resting make the blackberry sauce.

Blackberry sauce:
1. Press and sieve the blackberries
2. Add the Gallo Family Vineyards Autumn Red to the pan used to cook the venison, stir and reduce for a few minutes
3. Add the sloe gin, blackberries, blackberry jam and boil until the sauce coats the back of a spoon, add seasoning and sharpen with a squeeze of lemon juice.

To serve:
Place the potato rosti on a plate with the sliced venison steak. Spoon over the blackberry sauce and serve with wild cabbage or sea beet.