161 replies to this topic

[Panaderia Canadiense]

For me, 'tis the season to pick Fuchsia berries. The big tree-Fuchsias have finished their current bloom flush, which means there are tons of berries ripe for the picking. Same goes for the Joyapas (relatives of blueberries), which are extremely tasty.

If I'm feeling more adventurous, I'll try climbing the Mountain Coconuts after some nuts, and if I can time it right (so that the park maintenance people don't see me go up the tree - they worry about me falling) I can get Medjool dates in the city's central square.

[nassaumary]

I'm green with envy...reading about all the wonders to be found in your backyards and surrounding areas. Unfortunately, the only foraging I can do in the Bahamas comes from trees and the sea. So I suppose my foraging story would be about diving up conch and making a scorch, right in the boat, with the sweet pepper, tomato, onion and bird pepper I'd brought along...

[Druckenbrodt]

When I was growing up in Northern England, my parents used to take us puffball hunting, and we've got great pictures of each of us kids holding one of the giant things. That was quite magical and now I think about it, hard to believe. How on earth did my parents know where to find them?

We lived at the bottom of a heathy hill and in the late summer there were always bilberries (a bit like blueberries, but much smaller) to pick. They grew amongst the heather and those of us in the village who were bilberry pickers were quite competitive and never failed to boast about our high-yield spots (whose locations were closely guarded secrets.)

My mum always used to make elderflower champagne, but the bottles had a habit of exploding in the cellar, so then she switched to elderflower cordial. It's become an essential ritual for me now every May to make several batches. My partner thinks it's an eccentric obsession. My three-year old thinks it's the most delicious thing, so the tradition will no doubt continue!

[gfweb]

Wild Blackberries, beginning right about now and lasting weeks if the birds don't get them first. The sunniest canes get the earliest fruit (and the sweetest).

[Panaderia Canadiense]

I'm headed downhill later today (I'll be descending to 2,000 feet), and for foraging that means a couple of things (well, one big thing, actually): wild pineapples! I hope nobody's discovered the patch I raided last year, because they were some of the very best I'd ever eaten. If I'm very lucky, there will also be giant passionfruits, mountain grapes, and the vanilla-scented orchids (Sobralia, not true Vanilla) I like to use in ice-cream.

In all cases, there will definitely be Pelma (edible-rooted Xanthosoma) and small greens of SiguemeSigueme (Caladiums).

[Mallet]

In early August I was in the Maritimes and did a bit of foraging. We had a monster chanterelle harvest, and chanced on some other stuff as well... Too bad I was flying home or I would've picked a lot more!

Chanterelle woods


Picked chanterelles


Dried chanterelles


A russula


Lobster mushroom


Pine bolete


Bar clam (aka surf clam), false angelwing, razor clams


Bluberries (still a bit early)

[Mallet]

I found a small batch of chicken-of-the-woods mushrooms yesterday. I've never had them before: any special considerations and/or favourite flavour combinations?

[boudin noir]

Mushrooms. I'm now picking a large second crop of trumpet de mort. Dramatic harvest this year.

[boudin noir]

Chicken of the woods indeed taste like chicken breast. They're best young and small as they get woody fast as they get larger. Not bad with shallots, cream, parsely over pasta.

[sheepish]

For chicken of the woods, I cut into chunks, poach in stock, dust with seasoned flour and deep fry. Sadly not found any for the past 2 autumns.

[Peter the eater]

On the weekend we went foraging along the beaches and dunes near Lawrencetown, NS with the local Naturalists Club (NOT the Naturist Club, VERY different group).

The first two images are beach pea (Lathyrus japonicus). It's too late for the pods but the leaves are mildly tasty.

The next two are sea plantain aka goose tongue (Plantago maritima). Nothing like the giant banana. They've gone to seed but the grassy leaves are quite juicy and herb-like.

Number five is a type of lovage. It sucked.

The last one is wild rose (Rosa virginiana) which is good for rose hip tea.

We also gathered up some samphire aka sea asparagus and some bay berry for tea, sadly no photos.

<edited because Windows 7 spellcheck has abandoned me>

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Edited by Peter the eater, 29 September 2011 - 03:22 PM.

[Mallet]

Nice pictures, Peter. Is sea plantain very common? Having not lived near the ocean in several years I feel like I'm missing out on another dimension of foraging, although I have been known to much on sea lettuce when it turns up.

We ended up cooking the chicken-of-the-woods with onion and bacon on the campfire. What an interesting mushroom! It really does have the texture of chicken (in a good way), and everyone thought it was delicious. I think this would have to go in my top 3 mushrooms along with morelles and chanterelles (sorry oyster mushrooms).

[Peter the eater]

Martin, as far as I know the sea plantain is ubiquitous in the sandy spots beyond high tide all over Atlantic Canada.

Your 'shroom are gorgeous. My local Mycological Society has it's big foraging event this weekend in Debert and, sadly, I'm not with them. Fortunately, a friend has a porcupine for me.

Edited by Peter the eater, 02 October 2011 - 03:16 PM.

[Mallet]

This was a new mushroom for me:

Lion's Mane (Hericium sp.)




I had seen this mushroom before growing on stumps, and remember hearing it was edible, but most specimens I've seen have been a little on the old and dried out side (they turn brownish with age). This specimen was prime so I figured I would chance it. For the first taste we simply sautéed it in butter. Not the best way to eat this mushroom IMO: the texture is just a little too soft to be pleasant, and it has a somewhat creamy taste (almost like a very mild seafood chowder with a hint of chicken) which can be cloying by itself. This mushroom is made for sauce!

For trial #2 we cooked up some pasta with a béchamel sauce, with the addition of thyme and the mushrooms sautéed with pancetta. This was topped with grated gruyère. Delicious! The mushroom integrated well with the sauce and contributed a delicate but distinct flavour. I will definitely harvest this one again.

[Tri2Cook]

The fiddleheads are finally emerging here, grabbed a few yesterday. Didn't get a picture but they were dinner tonight. There weren't many yet but it's raining tonight so they should really take off in the next day or two. Keeping my eye on the wild horseradish as well. I want to catch it early and get a bunch of the greens while they're still nice and tender.

[nonblonde007]

Jealous. I miss those so much.

[dcarch]

A few dishes with foraged Mother Nature's gifts.

dcarch


Ramps and shrimps



Wild chive scapes and tilapia


Hosta shoots and shrimps


Ramps omelette


Lambsquarters and lambburger


fiddlehead fern and chicken

[phatj]

Lovely presentations, dcarch!

[sparrowgrass]

Gorgeous!!

[dcarch]

Thank you fuys.

Forage may be free, but it does not mean “salvage”, “rummage” or “scavenge”

dcarch

[janeer]

Love the photos. You eat hosta? And it's like...?

[dcarch]

Thank you fuys.

Forage may be free, but it does not mean “salvage”, “rummage” or “scavenge”

dcarch

Sorry, the "F" key is right next to the "G" key. I meant "guys"!

Thanks Janeer. Hosta is a vegetable in Japan. It taste like endive except not bitter.

dcarch

[Mallet]

Beautiful plates. What's the sauce on the chicken?

[Marie-Ora]

This is such a fascinating thread. The only things I forage these days are what we call Chinese guavas (they look like little pomegranates which you eat skin and all) and have a delicious sweet/sour flavour. As a child, we foraged for far more interesting things. I grew up in a remote area of Namibia, and bush started where the garden ended. We would go an find 'bush plums' which were so sour my face still grimaces thinking about it. On my grandmother's family farm we foraged for Baobab pods. You crack them open, and out come the seeds along with their powdery white coating - it tastes a little like yogurt powder. You can eat them as is, or mix them with milk, which curdles into a kind of yogurt. And the only berries we ever really foraged in this part of the world are called Msobo berries - they make a wonderful deep purple jam. I believe they are a variant of Nightshade, which for some reason is not poisonous when grown in the Southern Hemisphere. I haven't seen anything like these berries anywhere else in the world. I'm suddenly so nostalgic...

[dcarch]

Beautiful plates. What's the sauce on the chicken?

Thanks.

Lemon chicken recipe, except I used lime.

dcarch

[nonblonde007]

Marie-Ora, Thanks for sharing that!

[Marie-Ora]

Marie-Ora, Thanks for sharing that!

A pleasure - it really was so interesting reading everyone's comments! Lots of things I'd never heard of...

[janeer]

Thank you fuys.

Forage may be free, but it does not mean “salvage”, “rummage” or “scavenge”

dcarch

Thanks Janeer. Hosta is a vegetable in Japan. It taste like endive except not bitter.

dcarch

the leaves look identical to the hosta plants that are popular suburban bedding plants/flowers. Are they the same? Never thought of eating them

[dcarch]

Thank you fuys.

Forage may be free, but it does not mean “salvage”, “rummage” or “scavenge”

dcarch

Thanks Janeer. Hosta is a vegetable in Japan. It taste like endive except not bitter.

dcarch

the leaves look identical to the hosta plants that are popular suburban bedding plants/flowers. Are they the same? Never thought of eating them

I hope so. I have been eating them for many years and I am still here.

dcarch

[Yajna Patni]

I have been foraging a lot. Partly at least due to being broke, but I miss it from childhood. I have so far gorged on dandelions (I love bitter so they are great) violets, and most recently garlic mustard greens. I live in super suburbs and most of what i find is too close to the road or in placest that may have been sprayed, but if I have energy i ride my bike a mile or so to where there is some wilder land.
Garlic mustard is intresting. I put it in a spinach and cheese souffle and that was my fave so far. I have also been "foraging" peach leaves and making some vin de peche, which is glorious and tastes like spring. Foraging is not the right word, stealing from my neighbors tree is what it really is. Same with the mint I get that has overgrown the front porch of a local restaurant.
I am dying to find some more stuff, and I have a local mulberry tree pegged for later on. Also hoping to make some dandelion wine.