Tag: foraging

Huckleberry Everything: It’s the Season for the Beloved, Stubbornly Wild Berry of the Mountain West

“I’m your huckleberry.” One of American cinema’s most famous lines is probably better known than the unassuming little mountain fruit it rests upon. Val Kilmer’s declaration in “Tombstone”—which his character Doc Holliday apparently did indeed say to Johnny Ringo at the OK Corral in October 1881—yields 4.2 million results in a Google search.  Nonetheless, growing…


Are There Edible Ferns?

Q: Is it safe to eat ferns? A: Brilliant green, delicate fiddlehead ferns are a welcome sign that spring has arrived. Despite a shroud of confusion — even danger — and a very short season, these tasty greens are increasingly popular among chefs in fine restaurants, farmers markets, and home cooks. Rather than a variety…


The ‘Perfect’ Summer Parfait Starts With Home-Gathered Berries

When visiting family in the Boston area, I’ll do some eating, to put it mildly. The way a hungry coyote finds time for a wounded rabbit, I’ll make time for the farmers markets to see what’s in season, and for the old world markets for dolmas, hummus, and Aleppo peppers. I’ll carve out a block…


The Secret World of Ramps: Harnessing the Wild Flavor of West Virginia’s Spring Seasonal Delicacy

One way to immerse yourself in local culture is by discovering the region’s seasonal delights. Through food and heritage, we gain a closer look at the area, its flavors, and its people. In West Virginia, the wild ramp is particularly celebrated. While foraging was a necessity in times past, many now enjoy the art of…


Foraging: Enjoying Nature’s Harvest

What is better than enjoying the great outdoors and subsequently relishing nature’s bounty? It gives us the opportunity to feed our souls as well as filling our bellies. People have foraged for food for thousands of years out of necessity. Nowadays, we can benefit from seasonal gluts of fruits and nuts; eating them fresh, using…


Ramp and Mushroom Sauté

If you’re someone who struggles with what to make for dinner every night, then using seasonal fruits and vegetables as your guide may change the way you think about cooking. If you really want to get in tune with nature, then foraging is a great way to take advantage of edible wild food that grows…


Springtime Foraging: Eat Your Weeds

As the temperature warms and the days grow longer, the earth seems to awaken with new life. Spring arrives with all its promises of growth and new beginnings. It’s also a prime season for foraging, as wild greens emerge from the slumber of winter. While forests and other untamed places are optimal for seasonal foraging…


Wild About Mushrooms: Foraging and Cooking With Fall’s Hidden Treasures

As summer’s sunny days yield to the darkened cold of autumn, forests pop with wild mushrooms. Autumn rains dampen the dense substrate of soil, spent fir needles, and fallen trees that provide the perfect environment for some of the most delicious treasures you can find. Mushrooms may look like singular bodies popping up from the…


The Morels Have Stories

At the farmers markets of the West, it’s common to find morel mushrooms for sale in little baskets. They look gnomish, with honeycomb-like caps atop stubby stalks, each individual with a slightly different shape and posture. Wild to the core, this stubborn species of fungus has refused all efforts at domestication and only grows where it…


Eat Your Greens, the Greek Way

In Greece, eating horta is a way of life. Though their name may literally translate to “weeds,” these wild edibles are considered far from that—they’re valuable delicacies. Horta is a generic name given to a vast variety of wild greens; some 300 edible species grow here, according to Greek and Mediterranean cuisine expert Diane Kochilas….