9055 Forage, Harvest, Feast

Contents Introduction 1 Amaranth 9 American Burnweed

17

Bayberry 27 Black Cherry

43

Black Locust

55

Burdock 63 Cattail 73 Common Milkweed

83

Dandelion 101 Daylily 111 Elderflowers and Elderberries 123 Fiddleheads 145 Field Garlic

153

Fir 169 Garlic Mustard

179

Ground Elder

189

Honeysuckle 199 Japanese Knotweed

205

Juniper 217 Lamb’s Quarters

227

Mugwort 237 Nettles 257 Pawpaw 267 Persimmon 277 Pokeweed 289 Prickly Ash

ForageHarvestFeast_finalpages.indd 9

299

6/25/18 3:23 PM

Purslane 313 Quickweed 323 Ramps 331 Serviceberry 347 Sheep Sorrel

363

Spicebush 371 Sumac 401 Sweetfern 415 Wintercress 427 Wisteria 439 Wild Menus

445

Recipes by Course and Diet

447

Acknowledgments 454 Index 455

x • Forage, Harvest, Feast

ForageHarvestFeast_finalpages.indd 10

6/29/18 1:14 PM

Pan-Fried Scallops with Cattail Pollen and White Sweet Clover Serves 4 as an appetizer

The sweetness of plump sea scallops is a delicious contrast with cattail’s toasty-corn character, offset by the smokiness of good bacon. Adding white sweet clover (invasive Melilotus albus) adds an additional layer of honey-like complexity to a quick dish that you will not forget in a hurry.

4 ounces (113 g) bacon 3 tablespoons Dried Male Cattail Flowers 8 sea scallops 1/2 teaspoon Sweetfern Salt 4 tablespoons white sweet clover stripped from the stalk (80 flower stalks) 2 tablespoons butter

Chop the bacon very finely and add it to a skillet over medium-high heat.

Cook until the fat begins to run and the bacon to brown. While it is cooking, scatter the cattail evenly on a clean work surface and roll the scallops gently over it to coat them. Sprinkle one side of the scallops with some Sweetfern Salt. Reduce the skillet heat to medium. Place the scallops salted-side down in the pan and cook for 4 to 5 minutes with the bacon. Just before turning them over, sprinkle half of the white sweet clover flowers across the scallops. Add the butter to the pan and as it begins to melt, flip the scallops gently over. Tilt the pan occasionally to catch the fat and baste the cooking scallops with it. Sprinkle the rest of the white sweet clover flowers across the scallops. Continue to cook for a total of about 4 minutes, until the scallops offer a small amount of resistance when pressed. It is fine for their middles to be slightly uncooked.

Serve hot, with the pan scratchings piled on top of the scallops.

DRIED MALE CATTAIL FLOWERS In early summer I strip immature, green male cattail flowers—before they have opened enough to shed their pollen—to dry and use later in the year. Simply spread them out in a very thin layer on parchment and allow them to air-dry, turning a couple of times a day. If the flowers are not dry when you seal them in jars or bags, they can become mildewy (although if this happens, toasting them for 10 minutes in a 300°F/150°C oven does wonders). Dipping into that jar months later, you may find that the pollen has become separated from the fibers—it is bright yellow, feeling as silky as cornstarch on your fingers. Just shake the jar up and measure what you need.

80 • F o r a g e , H a r v e s t , F e a s t

ForageHarvestFeast_finalpages.indd 80

6/25/18 3:23 PM

Elderflowers and Elderberries OTHE R CO M M O N NAM ES: Elderblow, elder BOTAN I CAL NAM ES: Sambucus species STATUS : Both exotic and indigenous shrubs, widespread in North America WHE RE : Fields, streamsides, gardens SE ASON: Summer USE : Aromatic, fruit PART S USED: Flowers, unripe and ripe fruit GROW? Yes TAST ES L I KE: I can think of no flavor comparisons for the flowers or fruit; they are unique

For lovers of elderflowers, early summer is a happy time. The large white flowering umbels frost elder shrubs with pollen-laden blossoms, a magnet for honeybees and other pollinators.

They are also irresistible to foragers: While Sambucus species can be an ornamental boon to the gardener, their real reward is for the cook and the home-brewing alchemist.

I encounter two elderberries in the Northeast: S. nigra and S. canadensis (which is also viewed as a subspecies of S. nigra). Other Sambucus species, like the West Coast S. nigra subsp. caerulea with blue fruit, can be used in the same ways, although their flavor will be different (and better by some accounts). I have no personal experience with the red-fruited species of Sambucus, but the drupes are edible once cooked. Yes, despite their common name, the fruit is really a drupe, not a berry. Elderdrupes just does not sound the same.

Elderflowers bloom around the time that peak serviceberry season is drawing to a close in my hood. They induce a kind of giddiness in foragers. Their flavor, released into syrups and infusions, is unique, and they taste better in translation than they smell in bloom. Summer is not summer without a fizzing jar of elderflower cordial on the brew.

For the fruit, cooking is key. Despite their gorgeously glossy appearance when ripe, these fruits’ raw flavor is unimpressive. Also, the raw fruit can make some people sick. But something magical happens with heat as well as with fermentation. A cupful of relatively bland, raw elderberry juice (I do not recommend drinking it) brought to a boil for a few minutes turns darkly complex. Ripe fruit covered with sugar and allowed to ferment for days or weeks becomes bright and assertive. Even unripe green fruit—considered very toxic—is rendered edible by fermentation, as the Nordic Food Lab has taught us. Elderberry syrup is a proven therapy for colds and flu—it has antiviral and anti-influenza properties, among others.

How to Collect and Prepare Remember that when you pick the flowers, you are depriving the plant of fruit. If you want fruit later, leave as many umbels behind as you take. Once you are home, spread them out to encourage any small insects to leave. Do

123

ForageHarvestFeast_finalpages.indd 123

6/25/18 3:24 PM

not wash the flowers or you will lose precious pollen and wild yeast.

Elderberries are one of the easiest fruits to pick en masse and quite quickly. By the time they are very ripe, their stems snap easily. In good years their umbels are loaded with juicy fruit, and it requires little effort to carry several pounds home.

Once you have the fruit, you need to detach it from its stems. A quick way to do this is to freeze the whole umbels. Stick a bagful of fruit in the freezer for a couple of hours. Once frozen, they drop off very easily. The drawback here is that the very thin stems to individual fruits also break off easily and you end up with more stem matter than if you pick the fruit off fresh and unfrozen. If you need to use the fruit raw for fermentations, it is also better not to freeze the elderberries, as freezing will kill some helpful wild yeasts. It takes me about an hour (and something good on Netflix) to process 5 pounds of unfrozen fruit. Freezing will take half the time.

The Goo: Crushing elderberries, raw or cooked, releases a fascinating, rubbery substance that will coat your implements—usually only the part that is constantly in contact with the juice and seeds from elderberries under pressure. When the fruit is raw, the gum is clear to beige, and when cooked it is green. To clean your equipment, first rinse it, then dry it with a paper towel. Coat the surface generously with mineral oil. Leave for 10 minutes and wipe with paper towels, newspaper, cotton wool pads, or old pieces of cloth (that you never

want to use again). Coat with oil again and repeat. When The Goo is gone, scrub the clean equipment with a soapy sponge and hot water (I prefer a nailbrush to dislodge the snags of the cotton wool pads I use). Good as new.

Caution All green parts of elderberry are considered toxic. Raw ripe fruit also can be toxic in certain doses (different for everyone), so eat it with caution. Cooked is fine. If taking elderberry syrup as a medicine, do not consume more than 3 tablespoons per day. I have had a mild allergic recation to it (skin rash). Never eat raw green elderberries unless they have been fermented first.

C ULTI VAT I O N TI P S USDA Hardiness Zones 3–9 Plant elderberry in full sun or partial shade (more sun means more flowers). The medium-sized shrubs prefer moist soil but tolerate a wide range of conditions.

Elderberries have a reputation for being weedy because they grow fast and spread via stolons, eventually forming colonies in spots they favor. For foragers in the urban or rural wilds, this energetic habit is good news, but for kitchen gardeners it means a little management. If you do not want elderberry to naturalize and spread, check for suckers several times in the growing season and prune them off. Prune the shrubs for shape in late winter, and cut them all the way to the ground every two to three years to refresh their yield. They often fruit best on second-year canes.

124 • F o r a g e , H a r v e s t , F e a s t

ForageHarvestFeast_finalpages.indd 124

6/25/18 3:24 PM

Fermented Elderflower Cordial Makes about 8 cups (2 liters)

Elderflower cordial is a sacred early-summer ritual—brew it once, and it lasts all year. It makes exquisite frozen popsicles, long drinks, and cocktails. The cordial can also be used in baking, in salad dressings, and in fruity desserts. It can become an exceptional vinegar.

The addition of lemon juice helps to slow fermentation down (many recipes call for citric acid) and keeps the effervescent brew more stable. For an unfermented syrup, see Elderflower Syrup.

You can add other aromatic edible flowers to the ferment. Petite but profusely flowered Rosa multiflora is highly invasive and in bloom at the same time as elder. So is honeysuckle. Each adds its own character, and both are lovely.

6 ounces (170 g) elderflower umbels (approximately 30) 1 pound (453 g) sugar 6 cups (11/2 liters) water Zest of 4 lemons, peeled in strips, without pith 1/2 cup (125 ml) fresh lemon juice (4–5 lemons’ worth)

Do not wash the flowers or you will lose the pollen and the wild yeasts.

Instead, leave them outside for a few hours to allow egress for small insects. Strip the tiny white flowers from the green stems, using your fingers or a fork. (Tip: Leaving them in a paper bag overnight will encourage many of the blooms to fall off, making sorting easier.) Discard as much green as possible (in any plant it will add a tannic note, but with elderflowers the green is considered toxic).

Pack the flowers lightly into a large, clean mason jar or jars. Dump the sugar on top of them. Add the water, lemon zest, and juice. Stir well.

Screw the lid on loosely or secure a layer of cheesecloth over the mouth of the jar with a rubber band or string. At this stage the ferment actually needs air, which the cloth or loose lid allows, while keeping insects out.

Leave the jar at room temperature, stirring once a day.

Around Day 3 to 5 (this depends very much on temperatures and yeast), you will notice bubbles rising. Fermentation has begun. After another day or two, the elderflowers will rise and push up out of the jar; that’s serious carbonation happening. Push them back down gently.

Allow the jars of cordial to ferment another day or two, until the flowers no longer rise. Strain the cordial through a fine-mesh strainer and then again through cheesecloth. You can save the pomace (the leftover flowers and lemon peel) to make an elderflower vinegar or marmalade. Bottle the double-strained cordial in clean bottles. For peace of mind keep the bottles in the fridge, as fermentation will continue in the bottles; left out, they can explode. The cordial lasts indefinitely if unopened.

Elderflowers and Elderberries

ForageHarvestFeast_finalpages.indd 125

• 125

6/25/18 3:24 PM