Catkins, an Overlooked February Wild Food
February is typically one of the leanest months for the forager. Of course, what you find will depend on the winter weather. A mild winter will mean that you have a few more greens available to you. Of course, there are a few standbys, like black mustard which will reliably provide greens through most winters. Then there are bittercresses. In mild winters you may get primroses, the flowers and leaves of which are edible.
Early-emerging wild carrot greens and dandelions are additional comestibles that you can find whilst out and about. This year, where I am though its only just after mid February are out in profusion, enough for me to test whether hazel catkin pollen is worth collecting. On one of my recent forays I was looking at beech catkins which were emerging about as long and as brightly-coloured as hazel catkins. The sight brought to mind a recollection about catkins being used as a breadcrumb substitute. Apart from the central stem, most of a catkin is composed of pollen pods (the part of the flower that produces pollen). Once dried, these can be crumbled free of the stem and are then available for cooking.
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| Hazel catkins, left and beech catkins, right |
I'm providing images of hazel catkins and beech catkins here (beech still has the dried leaves on the tree).
As pollen is mostly protein, the protein content of these pollen pods is about 20%. The pods can be made more digestible by bursting the plant cells (which means treating them with a high osmotic potential liquid [basically sugar syrup]). This is when I remembered reading a recipe for candying catkins by treating with two sugar syrup solutions.
You ended up with candied catkins and a catkin-flavoured syrup which I was going to try on my pancakes for Shrove Tuesday.
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| Bag of foraged catkins |
Because I generally have jaggery in my store cupboard I was going to use jaggery and soft light brown sugar for my first sugar solution and then use light brown caster sugar for my second solution. I was hoping that after initial soaking and drying any pollen pods extracted could be used for other recipes just as you would breadcrumbs.
After going through the second sugar solution the candied catkins could be dried and stored as a snack. The flavoured sugar syrup could then be concentrated and stored for later. So, I was going to cook up a large batch of catkins initially, use half for extracting the pollen pods (also known as pollen grains, which is a misnomer) and candying the remainder.
The recipe I came up with is given below. I separately used hazel and beech catkins, but the results turned out essentially the same, so you could collect both or either.
Candied Catkins Recipe
Ingredients:
700g Catkins (hazelnut and/or beech)
2l Water
1kg light brown Sugar (1st Stage)
3 cubes of jaggery
750g golden Caster Sugar (2nd Stage)
Method:
When I get home, I pick over the catkins to make sure no bits of stem are left on them (these are hard and can be bitter). Then I spread the catkins on a wire rack for an afternoon to ensure they're dry before beginning.
Once processed and dry, place in a saucepan with the water, first lot of sugar and the jaggery (if using). This is the first sugar stage. Bring the mixture slowly to a boil then immediately take off the heat and set aside to infuse for at least 1 hour (but up to over night).
The following day, drain the catkins in a sieve (reserve the syrup) then arrange the catkins on a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Place in an oven pre-heated to 140C and toast them for about 2 hours, or until they're just beginning to brown. During this time, toss the catkins gently every 10 minutes or so to ensure that they cook evenly. At this stage they should still be soft but nicely coloured. This is the stage at which you can use the catkins for preparing biscuits and cookies. This is also the stage at which I air-dry my catkins for making catkin flour (if starting with 700g use half for making flour/crumbs).
To finish the candied catkins, return the remaining catkins (about half the total) to a pan then pour in the reserved sugar syrup and mix in the addition 750g golden caster sugar. Slowly bring the ingredients to a boil.
Immediately take off the heat then strain the catkins through a sieve, reserving the catkins and the sugar syrup.
Arrange the catkins on a lined baking tray then place in an oven pre-heated to 170C. Bake for about 60 minutes, tossing regularly to ensure that they dry evenly. You can tell when they are ready once they start to feel crisp and brown (but ensure they do not become burnt). They will get even crisper once they start to cool.
Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Package in to an air-tight container and enjoy for up to 12 months.
For catkin flour, take half of the catkins after the first stage of oven baking. Arrange on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Set aside in a breeze to air dry over night. The following day pop into an oven pre-heated to 180C and bake for 30 minutes, tossing them frequently to ensure even cooking.
The catkins will dry out and brown further (but make sure they do not burn). Remove from the oven and allow to cool then either rub the grains of the pollen pods free of the central stem to give 'catkin crumbs' or process everything to a fine flour in a spice or coffee grinder. I usually strain through a fine-meshed sieve to remove any fibrous matter. Store in a jar and use as an additive to four.
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| bottled catkin syrup |
For the remaining catkin syrup, pour into a saucepan, bring to a simmer and cook down to a thick consistency. Allow to cool and store in a jar. Enjoy on pancakes, in porridge or on yoghurt.
Catkin crumbs can be used instead of breadcrumbs and if fried gently with spices they're great as a coating for meat, fish, avocados or fruit. Catkin flour can be used as an adulterant to wheat flour in preparing cakes, pancakes breads etc.
This recipe is kindly reproduced from FabulousFusionFood, see the FabulousFusionFood Candied Catkins recipe page for the original version.
Here are links to some recipes that make use of catkins:
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