Smilax, wild foods books, thanksgiving dinner, wild foods club
Alan Muskat
Rilke
Thanksgiving Foraging
By Paul Tappenden & Joanna Dickey
Rivertown Magazine, November 2009
When settlers first arrived on this continent they depended to a great extent on trapping and foraging for their food. We were curious about what sort of things they were likely to eat around Thanksgiving time that could be gathered from the wild. With this in mind, we headed up into the wilderness with our foraging friends Kevin and Laura, taking basic equipment and supplies along, with the idea of finding much of our food growing wild.
Fall is the season for harvesting nuts and seeds, roots and fruits. It is all out there waiting to be picked, dug and gathered. We decided to start out by digging roots. We looked for wild parsnips, wild carrots, evening primrose, burdock and dock, as all of them yield plump roots that can be cooked in a stew or baked. We stopped at a local farm to forage for Queen Anne's Lace (wild carrot) and dandelions. In a couple of hours we had filled two bags with plump roots and dandelion greens. We also gathered a bunch of purslane, which is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, and vitamin C. We later separated the purslane leaves from the stems, adding the latter to a pickling solution of vinegar, white wine, garlic and herbs. We're sure that pickles and preserves played a big part in fall and winter celebrations, not to mention homemade wine and beer.
Not far from our campsite, we found a large patch of parsnips growing in a field. After twenty minutes of digging and cleaning we had about a pound of roots. Close by, we found winter cress growing and gathered a big bag of fresh greens. We may add at this point that greens would be somewhat rare in November, but they can still be found.
On our way back to camp, we stopped in a meadow to gather wild thyme, spearmint and yarrow (to use for stew flavoring and teas).
Just like our forefathers, we needed to hunt or trap a main dish for our meal. This found us stalking a Perdue chicken at the local Stop and Shop, which we trapped in a shopping cart. We planned to cook in a pit oven, much the way that early settlers would have prepared it.
Back at the campsite, we started out by making some sumac berry-ade by steeping the red fruits of the staghorn sumac in hot water until the liquid turned red. The result was a lemonade-like drink that was refreshing and full of vitamins. Then we started a large pot of soup, using the onions, garlic and potatoes that we had brought with us. We added the sliced parsnip and carrot roots and some chopped wild greens. The wild thyme and carrot seeds were added for flavor, resulting in a stew that was most satisfying and tasty.
Large potatoes baked directly in the hot coals of a campfire (no foil needed!) for about an hour is one of the tastiest ways to prepare them. When cut in half, the charred skin acts as a bowl for the potato. The addition of butter yields a creamy filling, similar to mashed potatoes. This method can be used with sweet potatoes or any type of starchy roots or tubers.
The next day our friend Peter arrived, having gathered some "chicken of the woods" mushrooms and hickory nuts to add to the table. Chicken of the woods mushrooms are orange fan-shaped mushrooms that grow on decaying logs. When cooked in butter they have a taste and texture surprisingly similar to barbecued chicken. They are quite delicious, and a perfect alternative for vegetarians. Peter also brought along some biscuits made from acorn flour and home made maple syrup that made handy snacks between meals.
The hickory nuts were crushed and simmered in water until they formed a thick broth, called nut milk, which was added to our stew pot along with some of the fried mushroom. This gave a rich flavor to the dish. We sprinkled in some purslane and thyme leaves, then simmered the stew over a low fire. Using the same fire, we dried out the dandelion roots, then toasted them until they were deep brown. After crushing the toasted root we made our first cup of dandelion coffee. We have since made it several times and actually prefer the flavor to that of regular coffee, and as a result have developed a whole new respect for dandelions.
For those of you who prefer tea, there are many wild herbs and flowers that make a delicious hot beverage. To complement our meal, we steeped the spearmint leaves and yarrow flowers in hot water to create two very distinctive yet tasty teas.
That morning, we had dug a hole and lined it with stones, in which we lit a fire that we kept burning until the rocks were really hot. After removing the fire, and covering the rocks with grass and herbs, we put the chicken and some vegetables in the pit and covered them with more grass and herbs. We then buried the whole thing with soil. Now that we were ready for the evening meal, we dug out the pit oven to find that everything had been thoroughly steamed and was permeated with the herb flavorings. We finished the chicken by grilling it over the fire, which made it crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside, with hints of wild thyme.
Between the chicken, the yummy mushrooms, creamy baked potatoes, and the hardy root stew, we had created quite a feast, worthy of a Thanksgiving celebration. We were able to take advantage of nature's gifts that were there for us to discover and enjoy, and for this we truly gave thanks.
Paul Tappenden and Joanna Dickey run foraging workshops at all times throughout the year. They will be holding workshops throughout November which will include discovering edible roots and tubers. Contact them at paulta...@mac.com or (845)304-5822 for information and schedules.