Name: Nettle Kail
Yield: Serves 4–6
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: a handful of ramson leaves, or garden mint, finely chopped; salt and freshly ground pepper; 1 cockerel, plucked and prepared; 1 tsp black peppercorns; ½ bottle of white wine; a handful of ramson leaves, rinsed and roughly chopped; 1 colander of young kale or spinach leaves, washed and drained; 1 colander of young nettle heads, washed and drained; salt and freshly ground black pepper; 3–4 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and halved; 1–2 tbsp butter; a handful garden mint leaves, rinsed and roughly chopped; 175 g medium oatmeal, lightly toasted; 2 tbsp rapeseed oil; 1 onion, finely chopped

Preparation info

Serves
4–6

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

A Taste of the Highlands

By Ghillie Basan

Published 2021

About

My mother grew up during the Second World War when certain food was scarce. Her father was a Church of Scotland minister and, on Sundays, members of his congregation would donate food contributions to be prepared for those in need in the community. The gift of a farm cockerel was always a welcome sight as it meant a big pot of nettle kail – a hearty broth with barley and nettles, kale or cabbage. Years later, even though her ‘nettle kail’ looked suspiciously like coq au vin – lots of wine,