With cultivated areas, fields, thickets, and woods, and the seashore, the grounds of the Vanderbilt Museum is a bonanza for wild foods in late fall, and everything the group will be finding is renewable. A 60-minute indoor presentation with fresh specimens will precede a 2-hour tour, and that will be followed by a book signing.
Cold-tolerant wild greens will be thriving in sunny areas and along trail edges. We'll be looking for chickweed, which tastes like corn on the cob, lemony sheep sorrel, garlicky garlic mustard, spicy hairy bittercress, and pungent field garlic. The sour leaves of curly dock will be back, and it’s relative, bitter dock, will have leaves large enough to roll up with a stuffing like that of stuffed cabbage, or even filled with fruit and nuts.
Sheep Sorrel
This lemony-flavored plant is not b..a..a..a..a..d!
We'll hunt for culinary and medicinal herbs such as black birch, sassafras, long-leaf plantain, and common spicebush twigs.
Roots are in season now, and we’ll look for wild carrots in the sandy hillsides approaching the LI Sound. Way more flavorful than the store-bought subspecies, they also maintain their texture better in carrot soups, cookies and cakes.
Wild Carrot
This white subspecies is tastier than its store-bought sibling, and has superior culinary properties.
Not to be outdone, common evening primrose roots may also be available in the same habitats. With a black pepper-and-radish flavor, these sweet roots thicken soups, stews, and sauces, the way okra does.
And if the tides and currents cooperate, we may be able to collect delicious seaweeds such as rockweed, kelp, sea lettuce, and Irish moss.
Late-season mushrooms may also be around if there's been plenty of heavy rain beforehand. We'll be on the lookout for oyster mushrooms, the best vegan replacement for seafood; savory blewits, chewy tree ear mushrooms, and wild enoki mushrooms, familiar to people who order soups in Chinese restaurants.
Baked Enoki Mushrooms
Traditionally used for texture in Chinese soups, these underappreciated mushrooms are superb baked in vegan butter with herbs and spices.
Don't miss "Wildman's" indoor demo, and his third exploration of these fertile grounds!
Note:
- Participants should be dressed for the weather, and be aware of very bad subway service. Trains are often canceled due to track work.
- No sandals (there are mosquitoes, thorns and poison ivy). Everyone should have plastic bags for veggies and herbs, paper bags for mushrooms, which spoil in plastic, containers for berries from late spring through fall, water and lunch, and extra layers when it's cold. Digging implements and pocket knives are optional.
- Dogs are permitted. Children are encouraged to attend.
- There's no smoking whatsoever at any time.