Garry Eveleigh

Garry Eveleigh has been gathering wild food from the woods of the New Forest and the shores of the Solent since he was a lad. A former fisherman, he is now more regularly to be seen at the helm of one of his Puffin Cruises summer ferries, taking passengers to sea to celebrate the local delights of Hurst Castle, The Needles and the Isle of Wight. But Garry, The Wild Cook, has never lost the thrill of finding delicious, fresh food for free and he continues to harvest the hedgerows, seek out wild garlic and herbs, take friends on mushroom walks in the New Forest and search the seashore for delights such as cockles and mussels and rich green samphire.

Garry made a succession of appearances on UKTV Food’s Great Food Live in 2006, gathering food for the Welsh cook Colin Pressdee to cook al fresco and, more recently, he has sought out wild food for the much-loved chef/traveller Rick Stein. A two-part article about Garry and his food, beautifully photographed by Andy Montgomery, is featured in the October and November, 2009 issues of delicious. magazine. Garry Eveleigh’s book THE WILD COOK, full of idiosyncratic, practical information about wild food in the British Isles - born of many years of experience - will be on submission shortly. It contains over 100 simple, natural recipes, inspired by fresh ingredients straight from field, forest and foreshore with no need for fancy additions to make them taste good.

Garry Eveleigh lives in a seaside village near Lymington in Hampshire.