Any Foragers Out There?

[FSMike]

My ex used to make great key lime pie substituting sour orange juice for the key lime juice.

[tartansail]

Originally Posted by tropicalescape

I went up to the Canadian Maritimes once and stopped over in one of the NE states before crossing the border and was looking for mushrooms and I met a couple of kids that were camping out,we got to talking and they offered me dinner with the main dish being some green plant that they had found..it was called fiddles ,I belive, because it looked like the head of a violin,I ate the fiddles and it was pretty good,until the next mourning...I think fiddles must be the main compound in Ex-lax....no more fiddles for me...In the south some folks eat Pock salat,its a green plant with purple berrys ,but they only eat the tender green leaves.fried kutzu leaves are good with a little salt,they taste sort of like taterchips...DVC

Fiddles, or fiddleheads, are tightly wound immature ferns. Lots of people in this area use them in salads. They're abundant in wet, shady areas, especially in the Spring. Apparently, they can be toxic and I've heard that it's not good to eat large quantities. Guess you figured that out.

[Kache Walk]

We like to collect poke in the Spring. As a previous poster said, you can only harvest about 6" off the top of the tender shoots as they come up. You boil it once, throw out the water and bring it to a boil again. A delicious food kinda like a cross between asparagus and spinach. When it is full grown it is about as tall as a person with strands of dark purple berries. These are poisonous.

My SO is a former clam digger so we are hoping to find some nice clam beds this summer in the Chesapeake. This counts as foraging, doesn't it?

[barnakiel]

Many Med and N African places have plenty of wild tunas - they are free for grabs as locals buy theirs from the market. In S Spain you can have as many bitter oranges as you please - the same story, good as additive to the bitter jam, but not a proper food. I have also picked many kinds of berries in many places of the world, also mushorooms - abundant in N Europe.

Unfortunately, one will not survive on berries and mushrooms ;-(. If only pasta grew on trees! I could go cruising for ever!

b.

[ohdrinkboy]

Originally Posted by tropicalescape

No cactus or sundried scorpions?..DVC

I ate fried scorpions in China. Really crunchy without much taste. Probably go much better with cold beer.

[lookoutnw]

Originally Posted by tartansail

Fiddles, or fiddleheads, are tightly wound immature ferns. Lots of people in this area use them in salads. They're abundant in wet, shady areas, especially in the Spring. Apparently, they can be toxic and I've heard that it's not good to eat large quantities. Guess you figured that out.

I was from Maine, ate them all the time, never had a problem with them. Great with Malt Vinegar on them, maybe that was the trick?

[lookoutnw]

Originally Posted by ohdrinkboy

I ate fried scorpions in China. Really crunchy without much taste. Probably go much better with cold beer.

Usually after about 6 beers, many things are better, just like a bottle of Tahkillya, and then that darn worm gets lost...

[Katiusha]

Turkey:
- wild milk thistle root with baby stalks in Feb: take out the inedible root core, then saute with some onions, rice, and maybe chicken - traditional Turkish dish.
- wild arugula, mustard
- wild rosemary, bay leaves, lavender, thyme, lemon thyme, sage, coriander, leaks, garlic, spinach, etc (see Ram's videos for Greek islands - same things and more grow in Turkey)
- mushrooms in Nov-Dec
- wild olives, apples, peaches, pomegranates from groves planted by Romans about 1500 years ago (usually found around some ruined cities on huuuge trees)
- wild almonds, mulberries, raspberries

There's plenty of other things as well, but haven't figured them out yet...

[pillum]

Originally Posted by ohdrinkboy

I ate fried scorpions in China. Really crunchy without much taste. Probably go much better with cold beer.

I had to drink about ten shots of China Moutai before I could face the scorpion snack test.

[barnakiel]

Sea grapes!

Anybody tried? Are they good?

Coccoloba uvifera - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

???

barakiel

[Hud3]

They're sweet and tart, but mostly tart. A heavy skin and not much flesh on them. Not something you'd eat much of, at least not for me, but kind of fun to pick a few and suck on them. They grow wild near the beach, usually, but we have some where we live at 500' elevation.

[zeehag]

am going foraging to the fish or meat market--rumor is they caught e 200kg tuna --so there must be enough for a good bbqing--or i will go to the meat market for a really good fillet....we will see how lazy i am--and the trees have now ripe mangos and cocos are jellynuts, and the plantains will be ripe in just a couple of weeks....papayas will come in just after named storms leave....tuna cooked in sauce of mango and coco and onion and garlic and poblano chile sounds divine right now....

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by zeehag

am going foraging to the fish or meat market--rumor is they caught e 200kg tuna --so there must be enough for a good bbqing--or i will go to the meat market for a really good fillet....we will see how lazy i am--and the trees have now ripe mangos and cocos are jellynuts, and the plantains will be ripe in just a couple of weeks....papayas will come in just after named storms leave....tuna cooked in sauce of mango and coco and onion and garlic and poblano chile sounds divine right now....

If that's a Blufin eat it raw!

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by JanetGroene

Where do you find good foraging? What foods do you find? What to look for or avoid? I've found some abandoned sour orange groves in the islands but there isn't enough sugar in the world to turn sours into marmalade. They are great for making a local condiment called "old sour". Sweetbay leaves also found in the wild, but not exactly a food. Would love to hear others' stories.

Does fishing count? Or fishing stories

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by lookoutnw

Usually after about 6 beers, many things are better, just like a bottle of Tahkillya, and then that darn worm gets lost...

I think the worm is put in Mescal not Tequlia?I asked why and they told me because people would water it down and so they would drop the worm in so that if it lived it was not good quality,if it killed the worm it was good stuff..Tequlia is Agave and Mescal is Maguy(sp?)Pina...I think?..DVC