May is here and with it, an overwhelming abundance of wild foods are perfectly prime for harvesting. While my mind is frantically inundated with ideas for recipes and my fingers are busy picking, my allergies have been reawakened resulting in itchy eyes and throat irritation. Lucky for us foragers, there are a wide variety of wild plants and herbs available right now to help combat these pesky side affects. Stinging nettle is a great example.
For the first time this year, I’ll be offering an exclusive forage followed by all things ramp tasting on May 2 in Framingham. The season’s first forage and wild food picnic on May 23 in Lynn will also feature a heavy dose of ramp dishes.
Wild spring greens pesto is a breeze to make and has been hand’s down one of my most popular dishes at my tastings and picnics. I make a slightly different variation each week based on what is growing in my yard, but the base is always the same and I think the secret to this recipe’s success – sorrel!
Early spring features numerous delicious wild greens and herbs like garlic mustard, spring onions, alehoof, mugwort, sorrel, and box elder. Tasty tubers are also prime for picking, from day lilies and burdock to Jerusalem artichokes. And the first edible flowers like dandelion, violets and magnolia brighten landscapes and dinner plates.
Elderflower is just starting to bloom around the Boston area. A staple to most mixologists and bartenders, elderflower infuses a deliciously bright, subtly sweet and floral punch when added to cocktails.
June welcomes more delightfully edible flowers like daylily, milkweed, linden, beach roses, along with the first fruits of the season in mulberry and juneberry. For the first time I will be offering a salt marsh forage in late June up on the seacoast of NH where we will explore all of the succulent, salty treasures from marsh samphire and sea beans to beach roses and orache.
Spruce and fir tips are offering up their citrusy bounty. There are so many ways to use these delicious bursts of lemon, orange and grapefruit flavors. I like to make a number of salts and sugars to use throughout the year.
Compound butter is a simple and tasty way to preserve foraged herbs, especially wild ramps! Store it in your fridge for 2 to 3 weeks or freeze it to enjoy all year long.
Love capers? Unopened dandelion buds make a great substitute for the real thing! Pick buds that are tightly closed and closest to the ground. Avoid those whose stems have already started to form, they won’t taste as good.
Spring has finally sprung – at least clock-wise – and I could not be more excited! Last week, I took a quick trip to Charleston, South Carolina. The south welcomed me with it’s magnolia trees and red buds in bloom