There is a quick and easy recipe with Alexander buds that is so yummy that we thought we should absolutely share it with you.

HOT PEPPER AND ALEXANDER BUDS STIR FRY

It is so simple with only three ingredients & seasonings and is so quick.

You will need a good frying oil like sunflower oil, some hot pepper (I like cayenne pepper) and some buds of Alexanders.

1. Forage or get your Alexander buds from us;
2. Remove the small flower buds from the outer sheath (the sheath can be used for other recipes in lieu of celery.)
3. Mix together, in a large wok or skillet, a little oil, black pepper and cayenne pepper, and salt to taste and heat until the spices begin to release their aromas into the oil
4. Stir fry at a high temperature until the Alexanders begin to brown.
5. Throw in some chopped wild garlic or few-flowered leek towards the end and drizzle with olive oil to serve. Can be served with rice or noodles, or as a moreish side dish!

Et Voila… It is drop dead easy!! The great thing about this recipe is that, despite its simplicity, the flavours are much greater than the sum of its parts. The chillies bring out an amazing depth of flavour from the Alexanders; simultaneously fresh and floral and rich and hearty!

SUSTAINABILITY

Now that you know how to prepare your Alexanders buds, we need to have a quick chat here regarding the sustainability of foraging flower buds. Foraging leaves is generally not a problem and we can see that generally, once plants are stressed from the cutting of leaves, they soon produce more leaves.

With buds, the story is different. Buds are the reproductive organs of plants and if you over-harvest, then the sustainability of the said plant population could be heavily impacted. As professional foragers and based on nearly 10 years of foraging experience, we restrict our foraging to only the well populated sites with Alexanders and we obviously only take what we need. Those two basic rules seem to work perfectly well for our foraging activities without compromising the alexander on site years on year.

A pro tip for finding Alexanders: they were grown in castle and monastery gardens through the middle ages and into the Georgian period and favour a coastal environment. You can often find areas nearby ruins where the plants have persisted despite the castles and monasteries falling into ruin!

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