We use all sorts of wild flowers and herbs in the Torridon kitchen. Take the piquant wild garlic (allium ursinum), for example, which is added to our potato and leek soup or its leaves gently chopped into a fresh salad, decorated with its wonderful white, star-shaped flowers. In 2009, my friend Miles Irving published his Foragers Handbook to which I made a small contribution. It is well worth reading and has some good recipes too. One of my favourite wild herbs is the humble wood sorrel which can carpet a woodland floor with its three hearted green leaves and small white flowers.

A neighbour of mine in Torridon recalls them from his Glasgow childhood, as sour sooks. They have a slight lemony taste and make your mouth water. If the leaves and shoots are crushed and mixed with sugar and water they make a light lemonade.

Chef Bruno and I are also looking forward to creating a delicious lavender ice cream for the summer months as soon as the first of the flowers open. I will pick them then he will work his culinary magic.

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