FOOD + WINE
Wild
THINGS
THERE’S FOOD AT YOUR FINGERTIPS IF YOU KNOW WHERE TO LOOK… AND WHAT TO LOOK FOR
“Foraging is just picking—not farming,” says Clark Staub, the baker/chef/creative spirit behind Full of Life Flatbread in Los Alamos. And what an abundance of ingredients there are to pick from in Santa Barbara County, especially during winter and spring. There are mushrooms, of course—chanterelles and morels. Wild asparagus, wild onions, wild celery, wild fennel, and watercress. Purslane and sea beans. Nettles and nasturtiums that have reseeded themselves beyond someone’s garden. There may still be berries of all kinds, prickly pear cactus (though it’s probably not the season for the fruit at the tip), quince (a fuzzy apple that may >
B Y J O A N TA P P E R
winter14.Food+Wine 2.indd 157
P H OTO G R A P H S BY ST E V E N H O N G
Freshly picked chanterelle mushrooms. 157
11/13/13 3:42 PM