Most people take pains to avoid nettles. But while most of England was celebrating the World Cup win over Denmark, Simon Sleigh was claiming the title of world champion nettle-eater.
In an annual competition in the tiny southwest English village of Marshwood, Sleigh ate his way through 23 metres of nettles.
He and a dozen other brave gastronomes had to strip and eat the leaves of as many specially nurtured stinging nettles as they could in the allotted time of one hour.
Sleigh, an organic vegetable grower in his 40s, admitted that washing the leaves down with beer ”helped enormously.”
”I hate the bloody things, honest. I made every effort to make sure it did not hurt, it comes with experience,” he added. Sleigh came second in his debut in the competition last year. On Saturday, he beat his nearest rival by about six metres of nettles, which are laid end to end.
The nettle eating contest, which dates back to the 1980s, was the finale of a day-long beer festival.
Organisers said they hoped the competition would soon by recognised by the Guinness Book of Records. – Sapa-AFP