The Forager's Feast: How to Identify, Gather, and Prepare Wild Edibles

by Leda Meredith

Overview

A field guide/cookbook for foraging enthusiasts

Delicious wild edible plants and mushrooms are abundant throughout North America, not only in the wilderness but in urban areas, too. Learn how to identify, harvest, and eat the tastiest plants in your backyard. Intended as much for the cooking enthusiast as for the survivalist, this book includes recipes that will transform even the most common edible backyard weeds into guest-worthy fare. Even experienced foragers will be impressed with plantain leaf chips that are crisper and tastier than kale chips. Dandelion flowers become wine, Japanese knotweed becomes rhubarb-like compote and tangy sorbet, red clover blossoms give quick bread a delightfully spongy texture and hint of sweetness.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781581573060
Publisher:	Countryman Press, The
Publication date:	04/18/2016
Series:	Countryman Know How
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	7.90(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Leda Meredith has been preserving food since she was a kid at her great-grandmother's side. She is the guide to food preservation at About.com, teaches food preservation and foraging throughout the Northeast, and is a regular contributor to numerous food-related publications. She is the author of Pickling Everything, Preserving Everything, The Forager’s Feast, and other books, and lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Foraging in the 21st Century 9

How to Use This Book 11

Collecting and Processing Techniques 14

Which Wild Edible Where and When 18

The Wild Edibles 23

Amaranth 24

Apples and Crabapples 31

Asiatic Dayflower 36

Birch 39

Blackberry 44

Burdock 51

Cattail 57

Chicken of the Woods/Sulphur Shelf 63

Chicory 67

Clover 70

Common Chickweed 76

Dandelion 80

Dock 87

Dulse 92

Garlic Mustard 95

Hawthorn 101

Henbit/Deadnettles 106

Japanese Knotweed 111

Jerusalem Artichoke/Sunchoke 117

Juneberry/Serviceberry 123

Lamb's Quarters/Wild Spinach/Goosefoot 127

Maitake/Hen of the Woods 133

Mallow 136

Mint 143

Morel Mushroom 147

Mugwort 150

Mulberry 155

Mustard 160

Nettles 166

Oak/Acorns 170

Oyster Mushroom 177

Peppergrass 180

Pineappleweed 182

Plantain 187

Prickly Pear/Tuna/Sabra/Beaver Tail Cactus 191

Purslane 198

Quickweed/Gaucus/Gallant Soldier 204

Redbud 206

Rose 209

Sea Lettuce/Green Laver 214

Sheep Sorrel 217

Shepherd's Purse 221

Shiso 225

Sow Thistle 229

Spruce 235

Sumac 238

Violet 244

Wild Garlic 248

Wild Grape 254

Wild Lettuce 262

Wood Sorrel 266

Resources 270

Acknowledgments 273

About the Author 275

Index 277