Foraging for the finest dining in Luxembourg

There are plants we take for granted in nature, often mistaking them for useless weeds. But, as chef René Mathieu of Michelin-starred restaurant La Distillerie at the Château de Bourglinster explain, there is a whole buffet out there if you know what to look for.

The chef learned to recognise edible plants from his grandparents. "My grandfather was a forester along with my uncle and my grandmother was a cook,” he said, adding: "I try to integrate two new plants per year into my cooking for diversity."

For beginners to wild cooking, it is possible to get started by studying which plants are edible in advance, picking one or two at first, the chef explained.

Around the castle, he shows that there is a huge variety, from chickweed, which tastes like small peas and which can be used in salads, to wild geraniums and grass.

Then there is the dreaded stinging nettle, which the chef knows how to pick with bare hands without getting stung. His technique involves taking the top of the plant and sliding his fingers up the stem.

Only 4 percent of the plants are toxic”, Mr Mathieu explained. While it is a comforting thought, it is also worth being cautious since many toxic plants look edible. The chef says he will only pick a plant if he is sure it is edible.

Other abundant crops found in the wild this time of year are the common or meadow hogweed, garlic mustard with its small, round leaves and the woodruff or galliet, which has a "slightly peppery aftertaste”.

And then there is fern, with its fresh scent. The chef uses a special kind of fern and removes its roots to blend with butter and oil. They give off a licquorice flavour, which the chef likes to pair with fish.

As well as edible plants Mr Mathieu likes to collect flowers to decorate his dishes. A poppy to adorn lobster or cornflowers for a dessert.

He also uses flowers to flavour his dishes, using chamomile, “for duck sauce or to flavour a sorbet, or simply for tea”.

Back at the castle, the herbs are placed in water to hydrate them.

They will be kept in the fridge for 24 hours and soaked in water with baking soda and rinsed before cooking.

Reporting by Anne Fourney

Do not miss the news - sign up to receive the wort.lu newsletter in English delivered to your inbox six days a week.