Sweet and crunchy with a smokey char, a hint of chilli and a warming wild spice – this Hogweed Seed & Chilli Buttered Sweetcorn is a must try.
Throughout the early Autumn, top of our agenda is stocking up on our favourite wild spice, common hogweed seeds. These incredibly flavoursome, versatile and abundant plants are native to the UK – and gathering a handful of these seeds really will go a long way.
Simply combined with fresh chilli to make a butter, delicious smothered on the finest seasonal corn on the cob, ember basked in their husks over the fire.
4x corn on the cobs, in their husks
150g unsalted butter
2x tbsp dried common hogweed seeds
1x fresh chilli, finely sliced (or to taste)
1 tsp sea salt flakes
Take your butter out of the fridge and leave on the side for 1-2 hours to get to room temperature. Flavour is key for this simple recipe, so use the best quality semi-salted or unsalted butter you can afford.
Toast the common hogweed seeds in a dry pan until their glorious aromatics are released, then grind to a fine powder either using a pestle and mortar, or by blending in a food processor.
Finely slice your chilli.
Combine your chilli, hogweed seeds and butter in a bowl and combine until well mixed through.
Tip the flavoured butter onto a square of baking parchment (or cling film), roll it to form a sausage shape, then twist the ends to seal. The butter is now ready to be stored for up to 3 days in the fridge or up to a month in the freezer. You can even freeze it in discs to use throughout the upcoming months.
If cooking over the fire, generate a nice bed of embers. Place the corn directly in the embers and cook until the husk begins to blacken, then turn. Cook for approximately 20 minutes total, until the corn is cooked through (the outside husk will be charred). To check whether it’s done, pull back the husk on one corn to make sure it is bright yellow and cooked through all the way to the bottom of the cob. Remove from the fire and serve immediately, smothered with your hogweed seed and chilli butter.
Alternatively, if you can’t find corn in their husks, you can smother the corn in the butter and right in tin foil, then pop on the coals for 20 mins or so.
If cooking indoors, you can remove the husks and roast in your oven or under the grill until tender.
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Foraging for common hogweed comes with a word of caution for beginners – be aware not to confuse it with it’s rightly-feared larger cousin, Giant Hogweed. Whilst common hogweed is one of the easier of the (potentially deadly) carrot family to identify safely, as with all wild ingredients – always be 100% sure before consuming. You can read more about common hogweed in our guide here.
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