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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@gilanet.com>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Culinary call of the wild
  • Date: Wed, 09 Nov 2005 08:12:32 -0700

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/food/articles/1109wildfood1109.html


Culinary call of the wild
Chefs, NAU tout value of foraging for native foods

Karen Fernau
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 9, 2005 12:00 AM

COTTONWOOD - On a recent Tuesday, chef Tom Pristash drove up to the rolling
pastures here to forage for lamb's quarter, dandelions, mesquite beans and
stinging nettles with a group of Northern Arizona University scientists.

The next week, he used that harvest and other wild food to create mesquite
bean-crusted sea bass, sautéed amaranth leaves and roasted lobster mushrooms
at Alchemy at CopperWynd Resort in Fountain Hills.

The gourmet dishes aren't just about unusual tastes but demonstrate a trend
in harvesting wild food that Pristash hopes will continue. After a few years
of using locally grown lettuce, organic carrots and in-season heirloom
tomatoes, some chefs are looking to the wild for their next culinary
inspiration.

Pristash and other chefs are working with NAU scientists pioneering the
harvest of wild food statewide. The program, run by NAU's Center for
Sustainable Environments, matches farmers and ranchers whose lands are filled
with edible berries, nuts, roots and greens with chefs eager to add the wild
foods to their menus.

The idea is to use food grown as close to the kitchen as possible: It cuts
down on fuel use, helps protect soil and water, and usually means better
taste. Wild foods could become as practical as they are eco-chic.

"It's a culinary and environmental movement, and although still very small,
it is a cause worth supporting," Pristash said.

A geologist turned chef, Pristash learned while attending college in upstate
New York to appreciate food the land naturally offered. The wild foods fit
into his commitment to using local foods ripe with flavor and nutrients.

While chefs see wild food as new flavors, some farmers like the taste that
wild food adds. And some farmers see the future in wild food.

As Tim McKibben, a Cottonwood farmer and wild-food harvester, said, "Society
tends to think of people like me who believe in eating local food and wild
food as the weird ones. But when a head of lettuce costs $5 because of
shipping costs, we will be the smart ones."

Worries over food safety also could stimulate interest in wild food. Although
admittedly farfetched, advocates believe wild local food could be lifesaving
if growing and shipping produce were disrupted by war or catastrophic weather.

In addition, wild foods are attracting followers because of their health and
medicinal benefits. Like organic produce, wild foods grow free of chemicals
and pesticides.

For the wild-food movement to go from novelty to mainstream, several factors
must fall into place, depending on who gets involved and whether an efficient
and economical food-distribution system can be established.

"I literally pick up wild greens from a rancher and take it to a restaurant
door and say, 'Hey, do you want this wild spinach for tonight?' " NAU
ecologist Patty West said. "Let's just say the distribution system is in the
beginning stages. It could use a shot in the arm."

Government grants to farmers, ranchers and foragers would make harvesting
wild food economically feasible, according to John Kallas, Oregon-based
publisher of Wild Food Adventurer Newsletter.

"Wild food is a niche, but niche is not such a bad idea. There are a lot of
people who want high-quality, good-tasting food that is not available
everywhere," he said.

Another option is to cultivate wild greens, such as lamb's quarter and wild
spinach, to sell to restaurants and grocers.

NAU hopes its wild-food harvesting program eventually produces enough to sell
at farmers markets and possibly at food markets that specialize in local and
organically grown produce. That way, chefs and the public could start using
wild food in dishes.

The same chefs whose commitment to local, in-season and organic produce in
the 1990s converted scores of home cooks to the organic-food cause can help
do the same with wild foods.

"Chefs are today's food celebrities. They serve as the portals for our food
values and changing tastes. They started cooking with organic foods, and the
public followed. If they cook with wild food, so will people at home," said
Gary Nabhan of the NAU Center for Sustainable Environments.

The challenge is creating a food-distribution system in which harvesters sell
the wild harvests at a price restaurants can afford and still make a profit.

"When Mother Nature is the gardener, you cannot control the rainfall and
other factors that determine when food is ripe," West said.

In addition, wild foods such as amaranth, dandelions and lamb's quarters are
seasonal and can be offered only as in-season menu specials.

Even in erratic doses, wild foods can play an important role in preserving
food traditions and heritage. Simply put, this means restaurants serving
foods eaten hundreds of years ago by Native American tribes, such as
piñon-nut flavored stews.

"Our nation's food is becoming so homogeneous, but when chefs can feature
local, wild foods . . . it links us to our past with powerful smells and
flavors," Nabhan said.

Executive chef Sandy Garcia agrees and serves saguaro fruit and cholla buds
at Kai at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa near Chandler. These
native touches to his modern menu allow diners to enjoy new flavors while
understanding ancient traditions.

Garcia, who occasionally accompanies experienced desert foragers, also buys
cactus fruit from professional harvesters.

"People think of the desert as a desolate place, but there's an abundance of
foods that grow naturally," he said. "Why leave it out there where it would
just go to waste?"




  • [Livingontheland] Culinary call of the wild, Tradingpost, 11/09/2005

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