It might be just soil to you, but to serious foodies it's a part of what we eat

Those of us who have been seduced by the veg box will already be used to the muddy carrot, but are we really ready for the latest import from the insane world of US foodies: dirt tasting?

Garden Organic, the national charity for organic growing, and organic seed company Seeds of Change held the first tasting of its kind in the UK this month to launch their organic apprenticeship scheme. The idea stems from the concept of terroir in French winemaking, where it has long been believed that the soil structure and geography of the area in which grapes are grown has an effect on the wine produced.

In the UK, tasters were confronted with different types of mud, which were added to a glass of water. They swirled this mix under their noses to inhale the essences of the terroir – and then bit into something grown in the same soil, cooked by Arthur Potts-Dawson, a vocal advocate of organic, seasonal, local and organic sourcing in restaurants.

It may sound strange but other cultures go much further in mud-scoffing; in rural parts of Africa and India pregnant women eat a type of clay that helps combat morning sickness and may provide calcium for the developing foetus. In fact, if you've ever dosed yourself with kaolin and morphine mixture for an upset stomach, you have been consuming clay.

So, did the type of soil in which it was grown affect the taste of the food in the test? Bob Sherman, horticulturalist in charge of the scheme, reserves judgment. "The soil certainly smelled very different," he says. "I'm not sure how that translates into actual taste but it's a good way to highlight the importance of the soil".