The Yorkshire Forager: A Wild Food Survival Journey

by Alysia Vasey

Alysia Vasey's earliest memories are of walking alongside her grandfather as they explored the West Yorkshire moors that they called home. As an adult, this love for wild things stayed with her, even as she learnt that her family's knowledge of edible plants were a legacy of a much darker time during the Second World War.

After leaving Yorkshire in search of adventure, Alysia was eventually guided home by her motto: Be true to yourself and you will become the person you were meant to be. She left her traditional path and took a far wilder journey that gradually evolved into one of the UK's most successful foraging businesses, supplying some of the greatest chefs in the world and the best restaurants in the country Her achievements are the result of a bit of luck, a lot of knowledge and a huge amount of self-belief.

Here, Alysia also shares not only her story, but also her vast knowledge of UK plant lore. A true Yorkshirewoman, Alysia tells it like it is, and The Yorkshire Forager is full of tales of her family's adventures and misadventures in their search for top quality ingredients - you never know who you might meet in the woods - making this book as entertaining as it is informative.

Genres: Nonfiction

320 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 28, 2020

Reviews

[Kirsty · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to give this one up at page 100 (although I did go on to read the parts about specific plants at the back of the book). I had a love/hate relationship with the book. I loved the beginning, but even though I was aware Vasey had made a career out of foraging, I didn't realise that she travelled here there and everywhere to strip places of their flora/fungi. I naively thought she must own land, or knew people who owned land, or paid to forage on people's land, but that doesn't appear to be the case. Only once did I find a mention of asking a landowner permission to forage on their land. The final straw for me came on page 97 with Vasey foraging for sea aster on the coast:
"Sea aster provide a source of nectar for late summer butterflies. The only drawback of this is that some species also lay their eggs on it. In bloom years for moths and butterflies, every plant is smothered in tiny black eggs, which drives me nuts since they're almost impossible to remove."
I was astounded that the implication here is that Vasey kills these eggs. Even if these eggs do not hatch, they would be food for another creature. Considering that butterflies and moths are in decline, one would hope someone who purports to love nature would know when to leave well alone. But the top-class, Michelin-starred chefs must have their sea aster for their teeny tiny miniscule portions served at eye-watering prices, mustn't they!

[Suzanne Griffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading this book.
A fabulous insight into how Alysia came to be a renowned forager and how many forgotten food sources there are to be found through foraging.
This book has made me want to get out in nature and see how many things mentioned in it I can spot. Although I will leave the actual foraging to the experts as I'd be too worried I might poison myself or others.

[Emma Hamlet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This may be a slightly lower review due to my preconception of what the book would involve. Although it is interesting hearing stories of foraging, I was more keen from page 181 where the details of each plant are laid out on more detail

[Louise Neilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

3/2023. This is a little gem to be discovered! I don’t read much non fiction, and I don’t forage, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one. It helped that the author references restaurants and places that are in my part of the country so it was all the more relatable. The story that sits behind this business is really interesting and told in a great way.

[Sara Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very engaging read, but not quite what I expected (I know - should have read the blurb on the back!) as the author is a commercial forager supplying tens of kilos to high end restaurants. She does it very knowledgeably, and with sustainability in mind, but nevertheless it’s not quite the homespun vibe I was in search of.

[Mo · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to know everything there is to know about foraging, this is the book for you. Informative as well as a darn good read.

[Bailey Bridgewater · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative, but also deeply funny and intensely personal. Loved that it's split into two sections: a memoir and a seasonal guide to what's growing in Yorkshire (with illustrations).