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Have you tried looking in your backyard? Forget connotations of eating weeds, foraging is taking the foodie world by storm and even top chefs are using wild foods in their cuisine. But how do you know your gourmet sorrel from your poison mushrooms? Sustainable chef and TV presenter Matt Stone gives us his guide to foraging in this edited excerpt from The Natural Cook.
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A lot of greens and weeds you can forage are really good for you, and if you’re picking wild food, it’s going to be at its freshest and most delicious. I also believe that if you pick your own food, you have a lot more respect and appreciation for it. You’re less likely to forget about a bag of wild leaves in the back of fridge if you picked them yourself. You’ll also find yourself a lot more excited to bust them out and cook something amazing…
Respecting the environment.
[Foraging is] about respecting, understanding and immersing yourself in the environment. A big motivation for me to forage is to gather food when it’s in abundance, but I only pick what I need. In Melbourne, there is now a sign at St Kilda beach threatening that tree vandals will be prosecuted, because there were chefs heading down there and literally ripping out saltbush plants instead of taking a little bit here and a little bit there. Be respectful of the environment and leave an opportunity for the plant to regrow.
Ask an expert.
All my knowledge on foraging and wild food comes from handbooks on the subject. There are loads of guides out there on wild food, and I find the older and naffer a book looks, the better it’s going to be, because it was written before foraging was cool. Just buy a little handbook covering your general area and before you know it you’ll be spotting edible weeds everywhere.
And it’s easy! If you’ve picked a flower before, you can pick wild food. If you plan on taking home than a handful, it’s best to take a container and bag that can carry your plants in so they won’t get damaged.
If you’ve picked a flower before, you can pick wild food.
A quick word on mushroom foraging…
When it’s the right season I love to spend a day in a creepy pine forest picking wild mushrooms. It’s a real zen moment for a chef. Mushroom foraging, however, should be done with someone who is an expert in the field. It’s tremendous fun, sure, but you want to be 100 per cent confident that what you’re picking isn’t poisonous. Luckily, with the popularity of foraging, you can now find individuals and groups on the internet offering
Luckily, with the popularity of foraging, you can now find individuals and groups on the internet offering guided forest trips when mushrooms are in season.
Where to forage.
When it is legal in a certain area, still be respectful of the seasons and environment. In peak summer, say, when conditions are harsh, don’t even think about going to the coast to pick herbs. There might be plants there but they will already be struggling as it is.
There’s so much opportunity to be found in your neighbourhood and front yard, too. On a walk around any suburb you can usually find lots of little edibles that are normally overlooked. Clover, dandelion, mallow, radish weed, wild radish and different types of wood sorrel (oxalis). So many bits and pieces.
There are wild brassicas, those small yellow flowers you see down the side of freeways that look like broccoli leaves. The flowers have a cabbage-like, cauliflower tastes, the leaves and stalks are great to ferment and the seed pods can be pickled.
There’s so much opportunity to be found in your neighbourhood and front yard.
Cooking with weeds.
Wild weeds are delicious but they can also be quite strong when eaten raw, and might need some preparation to soften their astringency. This could be anything from a light braise to fermenting to drying and grinding into a powder. You should also give foraged ingredients a quick wash before using, particularly if they’re picked from suburban areas.
Try and use wild ingredients not as a novelty, but as part of your day-to-day cooking. Instead of sautéeing some kale, for example, you can throw in some mallow and dandelion. All of a sudden you’ve got different textures, different flavours and more nutrients. Beach herbs are a fantastic natural seasoning, too. Barilla (dune spinach) and saltbush have salt spray on them because they’ve grown in the wild near the coast with the winds blowing across them, so they add a lovely salty taste to a dish.
This excerpt was originally published in The Natural Cook by Matt Stone.
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