We are lucky enough to live in an area where edible wild plants abound. Few of us can easily identify those plants, however, let alone come up with ways to cook them.
Russ Cohen’s “Wild Plants I Have Known … and Eaten” makes an excellent introduction to the idea of finding, cooking and eating food from the wild.
Charmingly illustrated by Stephanie Lettendre, this paperback was published by the Essex County Greenbelt Association. Although Franklin County has a slightly different growing season from Essex and isn’t on the seacoast, the book should still help local readers launch their outdoor-gourmet adventures.
Cohen starts out describing his discovery of edible wild plants in high school. As the years went by, he writes, he learned more about foraging and eventually began to teach classes to share his knowledge. He admits that it took him a while to put together a book because he loves the classroom experience.
“I enjoy being present to see the looks of pleasure on people’s faces and hear the exclamations of delight when I share my knowledge of and enthusiasm for foraging,” he explains. He eventually realized that a book could be an extension of his lectures, and I’m glad he did.
The book’s main section provides details about 14 of Cohen’s favorite plants to find and eat. These include sumac, stinging nettle, and Jerusalem artichokes. It also provides brief profiles of 27 additional wild plants that can provide food.
Some of these may sound familiar; I myself have eaten dandelion greens and daylily flowers. Others may surprise the reader. I must confess that it had never occurred to me to eat under-ripe milkweed pods or ox-eye daisy petals.
In just about every case, Cohen discusses general cooking methods for the plants he discusses — and he often supplies full recipes that look delicious.
In his narrative and in a chart at the end of the book, Cohen identifies the seasons during which his different plants are edible. He also provides useful general tips, discussing where it is legal to pick wild plants and how much food the amateur naturalist may pick without undue environmental impact.
All in all, the book should get the would-be forager started very nicely.
Russ Cohen will lead a two-hour foraging walk in Northfield on Tuesday, May 10, from 6 to 8 p.m. This free tour will start from the Community Room of the Dickinson Memorial Library on Main Street. The walk will include at least two dozen edible species. Copies of “Wild Plants I Have Known” will be available for sale.
Cohen’s appearance is part of “Enjoy the Great Outdoors with the Dickinson Memorial Library,” a series of events in 2016 celebrating nature’s seasons. For more information, call the library at 498–2455.
Tinky Weisblat is the author of “The Pudding Hollow Cookbook” and “Pulling Taffy.” Visit her website, www.TinkyCooks.com