One Day : Clare Knivett - Forager and food writer
Location : Malvern, UK
Profession / passion : Forager and food writer
Website : foodandforaging.com
Instagram : @knivmeisterflex
One Day is an ongoing project sparked by the Covid-19. In the days of isolation we would like to focus on what we do best; bringing people together. Read more about the project here.
We will be posting one new day of someones life every day until we run out of contributors. See our instagram stories to experience these peoples One Day in action.
Your favourite baked good?
Doughnut...if it’s fried does that count?
What is the story behind your profession/ passion?
I’ve worked in the food world pretty consistently from the age of 15. My first job was in the kitchen of a local Sri Lankan restaurant and to this day is some of the best food I’ve ever eaten. It sparked something in me. I was exposed to unusual flavours and ingredients from an early age and it made me curious for more. As a child my grandparents played a big part in our upbringing. My grandad was a beekeeper, had his own allotment, green house and chickens in the garden. We were always surrounded by raw ingredients, playing or having picnics outside, helping to pull up potatoes or pod beans. I don’t think I knew it at the time but a seed was sown then. A real appreciation of nature and where food comes from. I’m lucky to come from a family of really generous and welcoming people, so it’s always been about sharing what you have, sitting round the table, talking and eating together. I think what I do now is simply an extension of that. Telling stories, finding out more about ingredients and sharing food knowledge and from a foraging perspective that connection with nature.
How do you want people to react to your work / passion?
I would love for people to start seeing the miracle in the everyday. To start noticing more the details in the things around us. The changing of the seasons and the different things to look out for and celebrate as and when they do. To feel like they had learnt something that they could then share with friends and family. I would love them to feel inspired and connect with people more through food and nature.
How has the current situation affected how you work?
It’s actually given me more time to be in the kitchen, more time to photograph and share what I’m making, eating, foraging. It has happily fallen across some of the best foraging months of the year so I’ve been trying new recipes, finding new places to forage, really enjoying what’s on my doorstep. I’ve also been helping prepare 2 cabins and a classroom/kitchen in some woodlands near me which I hope to use next Spring for supper clubs, workshops and retreats.
What is the most inspiring cookbook you’ve read recently?
Tamar Adler’s The never ending meal is a book I read a few years ago which is one of my all time favourites. I’ve currently got Gill Meller’s Root, Stem, Leaf, Flower on pre-order as well as Dumplings and Noodles by Pippa Middlehurst
Your greatest achievement?
Something I’m really proud of which was an incredible experience was spending 6 months in Mozambique after completing my masters in Broadcast Journalism. I was there to help a friend with his production company and as well as doing some incredible underwater filming with whale sharks I also worked with a local charity. We went off to 2 different schools about 6 hours north of where I’d been based and spent 2 weeks talking to kids about HIV and AIDS. The charity used music to help communicate messages. First, finding out what the kids did and didn't know about HIV/AIDS, turning their experiences into poetry and eventually putting those lines to music. The end result would be a concert for the whole village held at the school. The children would be educating their friends and family by performing the songs they had written and feeling like pop stars at the same time. Recording and editing all of this in a mixture of Portugese and local dialect as my first project following my masters, in places where electricity sometimes didn’t exist, was a challenge. The whole experience was a privilege to be a part of. Recording and editing all of this in a mixture of Portugese and local dialect in places where electricity sometimes didn’t exist, was a challenge. The whole experience was a privilege to be a part of.
Describe a smell that brings back memories to you.
Unripe tomatoes growing in a greenhouse. It’s so distinctive. The warm heavy air, it smells green, that scent instantly transports me back to being at my grandad’s side and holding his soil heavy hands.
Your most treasured kitchen utensil/ tool/ equipment?
I spent 6 months in South America a couple of years ago and in the first city I visited, Bogota in Colombia, I bought a beautiful hand painted citrus press. I carried that thing with me everywhere for 6 months! Even up Machu picchu!
What was the most defining moment in your life?
I think working at Jamie magazine was a really defining time in my life. It taught me so much, introduced me to incredible people and opened many doors for me.
When was the last time you learned something new and what was it?
I have been growing veg from seed for the first time myself this Spring. I had never grown radishes before. I thought, like potatoes, they grew in multiples. They do not. This was severely disappointing to discover and mildly embarrassing to admit.
How do you relax?
I walk alot. The scenery here is insane. Being amongst it overwhelms me and is a great giver of perspective. I take an hour and half stroll most nights at the moment.
Do you remember any aha-moments in the kitchen?
I think it would have to be one of my first foraging experiences. On a day course with Liz Knight who is so knowledgeable as well as fun and really down to earth. She showed us things like sweet cicely for the first time, the taste of liquorice in a seed head or the peppery, wasabi heat of honesty, the sour, lemon acidity of wood sorrel and the grapefruit tang in new growth pine needles. I couldn’t believe it.
Are there any ingredients that you think could save any dish?
I think Samin Nosrat nailed it with Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. Once you understand those elements and how to use them your cooking goes to the next level
What 3 ingredients would you always have in your house?
Eggs, Malden seas salt, Irish butter
How do you wish to see this current situation have a positive impact on our lives?
I really hope we remember how nice it was to stop. How we treasured our daily exercise and started to notice more the details of our surroundings. How great it is to make things from scratch. How satisfying and accomplished it feels and how much more respect we should have for how things are made and (having grown food from seed for myself for the first time this year) how long it takes for things to grow!