forager Dandelion Superfood
Freegan vs. Vegan
understanding the difference
Preserving Wild Foods
APRIL 2015 // VOLUME 23
the science behind canning food
Family Foragers tips & tricks from a foraging family
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DANDELION SUPERFOOD
find out how you can incorporate dandelions in your cooking.
COLLECTORS HEAVEN the best flea markets around the world where you can get the most bang for your buck.
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PRESERVING WILD FOODS tips on how to can foraged foods.
location hot spots
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meet: sirpa
THRIFT STORE UPCYCLING how to transform a thrift stre item into the focal point of any room.
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medicinal red clover
freegans vs. vegans
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learn about this family who forages their entire lives in a small town in texas.
FAMILY FORAGERS
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recipe
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ANDELIO UPERFOO
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Article by Marilyn Burns
“It is also one of the first plants that come to life in the early days of spring, dotting the grass with their bright yellow flowers heads, which is one of the many reasons why foragers greet it with such joy.”
verybody knows Dandelions! They are such a truly plentiful spring delight that there is hardly a lawn where they cannot be found. But, sad to say, familiarity breeds contempt. Just because it wants to bless us with its abundance, people have started to contemptuously call it ‘a weed’; they launch chemical warfare on them in an effort to eradicate them from their boring suburban lawns. Fools! They should praise the Dandelion and be grateful for its gifts, for it is surely one of the most beneficial plants available - what a blessing that it is grows so abundantly! Every part of this plant is useful for both food and medicine. Even the seeds have their uses, they tell the future, but on their little helicopter wings one can blow one’s wishes and prayers to the wind. The old herbalists saw the signature of Jupiter in this herb. Just considering its abundant nature one can see their point, for Jupiter is larger than life and does nothing by small measure. But the old herbalists also considered the nature of an herb when they assigned the planetary ruler: bitter herbs, especially yellow ones, were ascribed to Jupiter, and such herbs had an affinity with the liver, the part of the body, is also ruled by Jupiter.
Liver herbs are almost always bitter, as the bitter principles stimulate the action of the liver, breaking down fats and cleansing the body of toxins. The liver also has an important part to play in hormone regulation and liver herbs can have a significant impact on one’s general sense of well-being, combating such common conditions as the ‘winter blahs’ and other hormonal ups and downs, as those associated with the female menstrual cycle or the menopause. This is one of the reasons why Dandelion was such a welcome spring cleansing herb: during the winter we tend to be sedentary, eat too much and move too little, indulge in heavy, fatty foods and eat too few greens - this was particularly true in the old days, when what was available was seasonally limited and there were no such things as greenhouse grown vegetables. So, traditionally, during the time of lent, people would fast or do a spring cleanse to shake off the winter sluggishness and get their bodies ready for the spring. Dandelion is one of the best herbs to support such a spring cleansing diet. It acts on both the liver and the kidneys, helping to ‘purify ‘ the blood and flush out the uric acid crystals that accumulate in the tissues from eating a diet too rich in animal proteins. Dandelion roots are particularly beneficial on the liver, while the leaves have a more pronounced effect on the kidneys. The French name for this herb ‘pis en lit’ testifies to its effect on the urinary system. The unique benefit of Dandelion’s diuretic action is the fact that it does not deplete potassium, as many other diuretics do. On the contrary, it adds potassium to the body. Potassium of course, is not the only nutrient this wonderful plant has to offer: it is also rich in a host of other vitamins and minerals, including vitamin C and A, calcium, iron, manganese and phosphorus. It also contains choline, the substance that helps the liver to metabolise fat. Thus, Dandelion is truly one of the most healthful plants one can possibly add to one’s diet and it can be used freely without fear of any ill effects. Now, for the foraging gourmet, the medicinal uses
of this plant are all very well, but better still are the myriad ways in which this wonderful can be prepared as culinary delicacies: Happily, for the forager, all parts of the Dandelion are edible and this is one plant where collecting the roots actually does not have a lasting harmful effect, as in fact, it encourages it to grow. Every small bit of Dandelion root left in the soil will grow more Dandelions. For culinary purposes it is best to collect older roots as the younger ones are just too small. Dandelion roots are bitter, which is one of the reasons why they make such a good coffee substitute. To make Dandelion coffee, gather the roots either early in the spring or late autumn, scrub them well to clean off all the dirt and let them dry before roasting them in the oven at a low temperature. People have different methods for doing this, some prefer to grind the roots first and then roasting them, others roast them whole. I prefer the whole root method as I feel that greater surface exposure during the roasting also looses more of the nutritional benefits. The roasting takes about 4 hours. To tell if they are ready, try to break a root. When it is ready it will break with a snap and the interior will be dark brown. Now you can grind it and store it in a jar. Take about a teaspoon per cup of water to make a cup of Dandelion coffee and serve black or with milk and sugar, like regular coffee.Coffee is not the only thing that can be made with Dandelion roots; they can also be sliced and cooked in stir-fries or added to fillings or vegetable sides. The very early Dandelion rosettes can be prepared as what in certain parts is known as ‘yard squid’:Cut the Dandelion rosettes just below the ground with enough of the root to hold the leaves in place. Wash well, making sure all the grit and dirt are removed. To reduce the bitterness one can simmer them in saltwater for about five minutes. Dip in a thin egg/milk mixture and roll them in coarse corn flour or bread crumbs, or a mixture of both, and fry them in oil. Culinary adventurers might like to season the crumbs/flour as well. Meat eaters can add bits of fried bacon or minced meat. Vegetarians can add toasted sunflower seeds sprinkled with Tamari or Soya sauce if desired. The young tender, leaves make excellent salad greens. They are best mixed with other spring greens, but those who don’t mind a slight bitter tang can try a Dandelion Salad all by itself. The leaves can also be cooked as a side green: Simmer in saltwater for five minutes, remove from the heat and stir in butter and seasonings. Some people like to make it the consistency of a fine spinach, chopping the leaves really fine or putting them through the food processor, perhaps along with other herbs that may also be available, e.g. nettles or garlic mustard for example. Sautée an onion, stir in the minced herbs, season with garlic, salt, pepper or chillies, cook for about 7 minutes, take off the heat and stir in some crème or crème fraîche for a more delicate flavour.
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location hot spot Article & Photography by Dennis Griffin
San Francisco
Pick up skills like how to choose edible mollusks, catch crab rocks, and spot edible seaweed—along with a history of local fisheries—during the San Francisco Coastal Fishing & Foraging Tour. Participants also walk away with the know-how of crab snaring, poke poling for eels, casting nets, and mussel picking dos and don’ts. Tours are offered yearround; seaweed pickings are slim in the winter, while spring and summer are rich in sea urchins. You’ll never look at the shoreline the same way again. $40–$50 per person. Take a walk on the pier in the shadow of Alcatraz with Kirk, our resident sea foraging expert. On this tour Kirk leads an entertaining and educational low-tide fishing class along San Francisco’s urban shoreline. Lombard will let you in on the tricks of the urban fishing trade like catching rock crabs, throwing a Hawaiian casting net, poke poling for flavorful eels and where to find the best mussel beds and edible sea weeds.
This two hour tour combines science, history and gastronomy. It is important to note that this is a class or tour not a guided fishing/foraging trip. No one in the class is allowed to forage or fish while the class is in session, but you’ll learn enough to find some dinner on your walk by the beach.
Education is a large part of what we do. We mean to teach people about what’s edible in their local landscape, and in doing so, help them look at the area they live in a different way. Through guided walks and forays you learn to identify some of the wild edibles you see every day, with a focus on sustainable harvesting techniques, recipes, as well as the history of foraging in the Bay Area.
top 5 things to forage in San Francisco: . 1.crab. . 2.mussels
3. sea weed. 4.eel . 5. illusive mushrooms.
Sometimes the toughest part of deciding how to makeover a piece of furniture is exactly that – deciding how to make over a piece of furniture! There are so many options, a good plan might be to find an inspirational makeover, and take cues from it. This thrift store dresser makeover by BHG is pretty simple, but the twist is the stenciled pattern in the center.
reat furniture can be easily transformed nto a focal point with a little paint.
reclaiming spotlight
thrift store upcycling Article by Lena Lopez
At the heart of budget decorating, or DIY decorating for that matter, is the makeover. Find a used piece with good bones at a thrift store, yard sale or flea market, and transform it into something stylish and lovely. Paint is your number one weapon of course, but there are so many creative ways to makeover thrift store finds, we had to show you some of the best we’ve found! So scout out your local yard sales, and check out Goodwill, because a good thrift store furniture makeover rivals a brand new piece of furniture any day. And did I mention, you are also saving the world by repurposing!
That detail takes it from boring to amazing. New feet and pulls, and a some paint and fresh stain (sand first!) and you have a designer look piece. This project isn’t difficult, just takes a little work…follow this photo if you like! This would also make a cool buffet in the dining room.
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PRESERVING
FOODS
Ideally you should eat fresh wild edibles; however winter tends to put a halt to that. There are several methods to preserving your harvest so you can enjoy nature’s goodness throughout the cold months: Blanching and Freezing Food Drying Food Blanching and Freezing Food
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Article by Kristen Wilson
Some wild edibles require blanching before freezing (such as lamb’s quarters) and it’s best to research which ones. Others you can freeze as is. Freezing is one of the easiest methods to preserving your harvest. Rinse the plants quickly in cold water, shake off excess water, and then chop coarsely. Place the chopped plant into ice cube trays and freeze. Once frozen, transfer the plant-cubes into freezer bags or air tight plastic containers. Another method for freezing is to spread the wild edible loosely onto a baking sheet to freeze. Once frozen transfer the wild edibles into a freezer bag and seal. When they thaw, the wild edibles cannot be used in a salad, but they can be used in cooking. Do not re-freeze after thawing properly.
Drying Food Drying is the traditional method of plant preservation. If the wild edibles are clean, do not wet them. Otherwise, briefly rinse dust and dirt from the foliage, shake off the excess water, and remove any dead or damaged foliage. Then, tie the stems into small bundles with string or elastic bands and hang them upside down in a warm, dry, airy place in your home or outside - but not in direct sunlight. Be sure to make small, loose bundles and allow for good air circulation around each bunch. Elastic bands are the preferable method because as the stems dry, they lose moisture, therefore shrinking; the elastic band will automatically readjust to the size of the stems. Be patient here. Paperclips can be used to hang the bundles on a string or rope. UV rays from the sun and moisture from dew and frost can discolour and reduce the quality of many herbs. Thus, it is best to dry herbs indoors in a large empty closet, attic, or unused corner of a room. Drying herbs actually add a wonderful natural scent to any room.
Drying Box An alternative to hanging your plants to dry is to spread them out on a clean window screen or homemade screen. A window screen can rest on the backs of chairs – having as much air flow as possible is important. Turn the leaves often to ensure even drying throughout. Conventional ovens can also be used to dry wild edibles. Spread the plant evenly on a baking sheet and dry at the lowest temperature setting possible. Home food dehydrators also do an excellent job. Follow the directions provided with the dehydrator- they know best. Wild edibles are sufficiently dry when they are brittle and crumble easily. When the leaves are dry, separate them from their stems (unless the stem possesses nutritional values). Store the dried plant in mason jars with tight fitting lids. Heavy-duty zip-lock plastic bags can also be used. Store dried wild edibles in a cool, dry place away from sunlight, moisture, and heat. Average shelf life is one to two years if stored properly. Dried wild edibles will not only increase the nutritional value of soups, stews, potato dishes, pancakes, and much more but they will add flavour too!
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recipe
Dandelion Pasta And Garlic Mustard Pesto Recipe by Brittany Braxton
DANDELION PASTA: 2 2 4 1 1 1
cups Dandelion greens Eggs cups Flour cup water tsp salt tsp garlic salt
1. Mix dandelion greens and eggs in a blender until smooth. 2. Transfer to a bowl, add salt and start adding flour while beating with a spoon. Keep adding until dough is stiff. 3. Roll out with rolling pin to 1/4�. 4. Crank through pasta maker starting from thickness 7 to 3.Choose fettuccini setting. 5.You can freeze the pasta in containers. 6. Drop fresh pasta in boiling water and boil for 4-5 minutes.
GARLIC MUSTARD PESTO: 3 cups (packed) fresh Garlic Mustard leaves 3 cloves garlic 1/3 cup olive oil, you can also use 1 or 2 small chopped up tomatoes instead of olive oil, 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese 1/3 cup walnuts 1 tsp salt
1. Mix all ingredients in a food processor 2. Run at high speed until all ingredients are finely chopped. It should resemble a dark green paste. 3. Taste, and add up to Ÿ tsp more salt if necessary This pasta is pretty strong tasting, and completely different than pesto made with basil. 4. Let sit 3 or 4 hours to mellow and use on pasta. ***If it weren’t so cold I would pick some Wintercress flowers buds to steam and use like broccoli.
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FAM I LY FOR AGE RS
When I was in my early teens, my sister went on a week long cooking course. She’d come home every night and try out what she had made that day on myself and my siblings. We had chicken pie, quiche lorraine, chocolate mousse.
Lunch time: Lucy Cavendish cooks up her harvest with her children, who are suitably impressed with their mother’s foraging skills Unfortunately, I think she got something wrong. The resulting salad was bitter and inedible and ‘hedgerow salad’ became legendary in my family, a term for something that no one wants to eat. But it’s two decades on now and ‘food for free’ as it’s known is having a major resurgence. Every chef worth their salt employs their own professional forager - men or women who scour the countryside for tasty titbits that chefs can turn in to something delicious Free food is, basically, anything you can find around and about that is edible. For some people, it’s having your own chickens and eating their eggs. For others, it’s growing their own vegetables. In its extreme form, it’s eating roadkill.
Foraging, however, is different. It takes ingenuity and knowledge. It is about looking for specific things yet also realising that many things that grow naturally are edible. Yun Hider is one of these foragers. He lives down a tiny narrow lane in the middle of Wales with his partner, Catherine, and has devoted his life to learning what it takes to make a delicious hedgerow salad, rather than a disgusting one. This is why I am in the rain, standing staring at a hedgerow in Pembrokeshire with Yun. I have come to visit him with the head chef of The Grill at The Dorchester, Brian Hughson, who uses Yun as a professional ‘hunter gatherer’ for the food in his restaurant in New York City. ‘Yun is the best,’ Brian tells me as we watch Yun scour the hedgerow like a dog looking for a stick. ‘Everything he delivers is fresh. He sends me whatever he finds and my job is to turn it into something delicious.’ Committed: Yun Hider, a forager who has devoted his life to learning what it talkes to make a delicious hedgerow salad, with head chef at The Dorchester hotel Grill, Brian Hughson Committed: Yun Hider, a forager who has devoted his life to learning what it talkes to make a delicious hedgerow salad, with head chef at The Dorchester hotel Grill, Brian Hughson Yun is going to teach me what to forage for and Brian will tell me how to cook it. I am then going to take my new-found knowledge back home and cook for my family as cheaply as possible. It makes sense to me, during these times when people are so hard hit for money, to find food that costs you nothing. I live in the countryside in Oxfordshire and am surrounded by woods, hedges, fields, streams and rivers. I am convinced there is more I could be taking from there - at no cost to the environment - to reduce my family’s grocery bill. ‘Anyone can forage for food,’ says Yun. ‘All you need is a hedgerow or some woods. Even in towns, there is free food available.
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Go to the end of the Tube line and just start searching,’ he says. ‘Take a book with you so that you can check what you are picking.’ Foraging is big business at the moment. Yun doesn’t just work for The Dorchester but also many other restaurants countrywide. He has been on radio and TV and provided food for BBC2’s Great British Menu series. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s chief forager, John Wright, has just written a book on how to forage called The River Cottage Hedgerow Handbook. Credit crunch: It makes sense, during times when people are hard hit for money, to find food that costs nothing. Credit crunch: It makes sense, during times when people are for money, to find food that costs nothing. According to Yun, we Brits are also turning away from traditional strawberries and raspberries in favour of more home-grown native hedgerow berries this summer such as blackcurrants, redcurrants and gooseberries. His first piece of advice is to get excited about the whole idea of foraging. ‘Try reading Richard Mabey’s Food For Free and Roger Phillips’ Wild Food, they really inspired me. You must embrace it,’ he says as he leaps over a ditch to pick something from the very back of the hedgerow. ‘Know your plant,’ he says, leaning over to hand me a green leaf. ‘Taste this.’ This is why Yun says that all potential foragers need to research what they want to pick thoroughly. ‘You need to know what’s good for you and what isn’t,’ he says. ‘You don’t want to be eating ivy or nightshade or something that’ll do you harm.’ Game: Lucy makes pigeon breasts, given to her by the local gamekeeper for free. Game: Lucy makes pigeon breasts, given to her by the local gamekeeper for free. Next he delves in to the hedge and comes up with a handful of sticky weed, also known as Cleavers or goose grass (Galium aparine) - I remember it from childhood when the swirling green leaves and sticky stems and burrs would cling to my clothes and socks on walks. ‘You can eat the leaves of this,’ he says. They are also rather delicious and piquant.
We pick handfuls of the acidgreen trefoil leaves that look a lot like clover, and small white flowers, as both can be eaten. I also find a lot of yellowy orange mushrooms. We discard all but two of the mushrooms to be on the safe side. For lunch we cook them with a wild rabbit Yun shot the day before. Brian makes a hedgerow salad of hawthorn leaves, blackberry leaves, dandelion leaves, gorse flowers, hedge sorrel, hedge mustard and chops up the wood sorrel, which Yun tells me you can identify by its three heart-shaped leaves, and mixes it with goats’ cheese. It is all delicious.
In the afternoon we collect bright yellow gorse flowers that grow on spiny evergreen bushes to make gorse gin with, wavy green oak leaves for oak leaf sherry, bilberries - which look a lot like blueberries, but you can tell the difference because they grow in pairs or singularly, while blueberries grow in clusters - to use with some sea bass Yun caught earlier on in the day and sea purslane, a salty leafy salad plant that resembles young spinach, from the local estuary. Before we leave, Yun tells me that I must be prepared to embrace the unexpected when it comes to foraging. ‘You won’t necessarily find exactly what I did,’ he says. ‘Be prepared to experiment but don’t use guesswork. You need to embrace interacting with nature.’ That night, Brian shows me how to use the leaves of the sticky weed to add piquancy to dishes such as rabbit terrine and lobster ballotine. He also teaches me to make a meadowsweet. It is absolutely wonderful. I come back totally inspired to translate what I have learned. I am committed to trying to forage to feed my family. I have tried in the past to grow my own food - everything from courgettes to spinach to lettuce - with limited success. The joy of foraging for me is that the food is already growing. The only effort is in identifying it and picking it. When I tell my children what I am going to do, they all look a bit dubious. ‘Food from a hedge?’ they say. I then tell them that, if we are lucky, maybe I’ll find us a rabbit or a deer on the road to eat. They all make gagging sounds. Maybe I will go to the local stream and see if I can find some crayfish. I’ve seen the chef Valentine Warner do this on the television and decide that I might be able to trap some too. My children are not quite sure what to make of it all. Luckily, just as I am about to set off in my waders, my friend, the local gamekeeper, comes round with five pigeons he has shot that day. He gives them to me for free. Now all we need are the salad leaves to go with it. I start at the hedgerow outside my house. I immediately spot hawthorn, new young blackberry leaves, blackberry flowers and some just-ripe blackberries. Inspired by my success the children join me to search for some sticky weed. I offer them some leaves to taste and they excitedly put the tiny leaves in their mouths. ‘I like that,’ my three year-old daughter Ottoline says. I heat the soup up in a billy can that Sunny has hung over the fire, then I fry up the pigeon breasts in some walnut oil. It takes seconds to cook. The children help; they love the fire and find Sunny a source of interesting information. The children all look at their plates with suspicion but agree to give it a go. Article by Charlotte Mills
Then, one night, she set off out of the house and down the country lane armed with a bowl and some scissors. When we asked her what she was doing, she said, ‘I’m making hedgerow salad.’ She claimed that on her course that day they had learned what they could take from the countryside and 17 turn into food.
wild medicine
Medicinal Properties of:
Article by gus polk
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hat’s not the only super power red clover has. Medicinally, it is used for respiratory complaints, and for chronic skin ailments such as eczema. Isoflavone compounds in red clover act as phytoestrogens and are used to relieve menopausal symptoms. There are a few studies out there may be useful in preventing and treating breast cancer.And on top of all of that awesomeness, red clover flowers taste good.
It’s the flowers, along with the top leaves attached to the stems near the base of the flowers, that you want to harvest. Okay, okay: food snobs will skip the leaves completely and just go for the flowers. Try harvesting that way in quantity; I dare you. You’ll probably end up doing what I do and simply ignoring the occasional leaf that end up in your collection container along with the flowers.
One of the best ways to use red clover both medicinally and as a pleasant beverage is to make an infusion of it. Red clover tastes mildly sweet to me, and combines well with nettles, red raspberry leaf, and/or mint. To prepare, pour boiling hot water over the herbs, cover, and let steep for 30 minutes. Strain and serve hot or chilled. If you like your tea sweet, honey pairs better with red clover than sugar or agave does.
You can strip the tender florets off of the tough flower head base and use them, fresh or dried, in grain recipes such as rice salads. Fresh red clover florets with barley and a little mint is an especially tasty combination. Dried, the florets can be used to replace up to 25% of the wheat or other grain flour in recipes for baked goods. The red clover flowers add a lightly spongy texture, mild sweetness, and a dash of protein to whatever bread, muffin, etc. you are baking.
Red clover is a source of many nutrients including: vitamin C: necessary for normal growth and development.
chromium: a mineral our bodies use in small amounts for normal body functions, such as digesting food.
calcium: is a mineral that is an essential part of bones and teeth. The heart, nerves, and blood-clotting systems also need calcium.
magnesium: is required for the proper growth and maintenance of bones, as well as required for the proper function of nerves and muscles.
niacin: used to prevent a lack of natural niacin in the body, and to lower cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood.
phosphorus: the main function is in the formation of bones and teeth. It also contributes how the body uses carbohydrates.
thiamine: is required by our bodies to properly use carbohydrates.
potassium: is necessary for the heart, kidneys, and other organs to work normally.
meet: sirpa
Sirpa Kaajakari
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Article by Crystal Dodge
riginally from Finland lives now with her two boys and husband in Los Angeles, California. In Finland she studied cultural management and worked for NGO’s and a political party as a head of communications. Now she is a massage therapist, baby massage and story massage instructor, blogger and she is constantly learning more about natural living and healing through real food. On the family’s journey to heal from food intolerances and other health issues Sirpa started going back to her roots and realized that old Finnish recipes are often naturally healthy, allergen free and nutritious. Root vegetables, other vegetables, mushrooms, berries, fish, meat and fruit form now a base of their paleo style diet. When not cooking, the Kaajakari’s like outdoors, camping and hiking. The recipes on the blog are paleo and autoimmune paleo friendly. Since the recipes are dairy and egg free, some of them vegan too. Look for the labels. Occassionally some foods like white rice, potatoes seeds or nuts that are not part of at least the initial 30 day AIP elimination diet protocol, might be used. They will point out and modifications will be suggested to make food paleo or AIP.
Foraging is a great way to combine a love of nature, gardening and cooking
MEET:
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a collector's
HEAVEN ARTICLE BY SAM DOMINIQUEZ
THEY came for freshly shucked oysters and straightoff-the-leg prosciutto. They came for clacking vintage typewriters and old LPs repurposed as dog tags and bracelets. And they came, to the Brooklyn Flea in Fort Greene last Saturday, searching for meaning and connection in their rudderless lives. “Flea markets proliferate a volume of goods needing to be sold and people who are hungry — emotionally and aesthetically — to sort out the meaning of life,” said Michael Prokopow, a history professor at the Ontario College of Art and Design University in Toronto, who teaches a course called “Stuff,” about things and their meaning. “For most people who go on these ritualized scavenger hunts looking for something that they may not know exists, it is a kind of pilgrims’ process through the detritus of the past.”
O.K. So, maybe the situation is not quite that deep. But in recent years, with nearly half a dozen major flea markets springing up across the city, the flea marketing of New York is all but complete. At the Chelsea Flea Market, classic LPs can be rescued from the trash bin. Credit Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times. There is the Brooklyn Flea — actually two flea markets, one in Fort Greene every Saturday and, new this year, another in Williamsburg every Sunday. There is the Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market every weekend, with its gourmet food truck bazaar every second Sunday of the month. There is the Antiques Garage and the West 25th Street Market in Chelsea. There is the Hester Street Fair in the shadow of Seward Park on the Lower East Side, now in its second year, and the Green Flea all the way up and across town on Columbus Avenue. Dekalb Market, which is set to open this summer in Brooklyn, will feature shipping container storefronts, with vendors selling their wares in what look like urban, Jurassic-size building blocks. And on Saturday BK Festival flea market in Coney Island kicks off its inaugural season. The Coney Island flea, according to its owners, Tom Brady and Tom Walker, will distinguish itself with a state fair atmosphere — carnival and pony rides, concerts, car shows, food. But there will be absolutely no hot dogs, out of respect for Nathan’s, the men said in a phone interview, referring to the longtime Coney Island hot-dog seller. In a city that thrums with opportunity and a veritable buffet of wonderful things to do — theaters! museums! parks! — flea markets have somehow emerged as many people’s first choice of a way to spend the weekend. On Brooklyn Flea’s opening weekend, about 25,000 people filed through the Fort Greene and Williamsburg markets, according to the organizers, and SuChin Pak, a founder of the current Hester Street Fair, estimated that 11,000 people came to her market’s opening day this year. Originally named after the marchés aux puces — the markets of fleas — on the outskirts of Paris in the late 19th century, flea markets in New York have always been the playground of the city’s creative class. Andy Warhol, among other writers and artists, was known to haunt the Chelsea market. But now the markets have become true scenes, places to see, shop and be seen, all while washing down a $15 lobster roll with home-brewed hibiscus soda. The trend has gotten so over the top that, in a video shown in city taxis, the “NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams simultaneously recommended flea markets to tourists, saying, “Go to one of those Marrakesh-like outdoor artisanal markets.” “Brooklyn’s a festival this time of year,” Mr. Williams said. “They’re openly making handmade grilled cheese sandwiches, all kinds of leather goods, tin, silver. It’s like a walk back in time!”
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VEGAN
FREEGAN
It has been said that just because you’re a vegan doesn’t mean that you’re living an ethical life. A cruelty-free life; yes. But an environmentally conscious, organic, fair trade, anti-consumerist, localist, ethical life; maybe not. Or at least that’s the way freegan’s see things.
Article by Martin Jones
Freegans are people who take the idea of living an ethical life to the extreme. The vast majority of freegans are vegans, however, a small portion will eat meat so long as it would otherwise go to waste. Employing such measures as dumpster diving, plate scraping, wild foraging, shoplifting and bartering to access food for themselves. Freegans don’t stop at unconventional means of accessing food; they also employ ‘free’ ways for accessing housing, clothing and mobilizing themselves. All while minimizing their level of employment. So does this mean that being vegan is no longer enough? Well, that depends on your definition of what it means to be a vegan. For some people, not eating meat, dairy and eggs is enough. Others eliminate animal products from their clothes, personal hygiene and home cleaning products as well. Advocating animal rights and being against animal testing are a given. And judging from the blogs, websites, discussion forums and information materials it would seem that being vegan means so much more. Vegans are concerned about the environment, they oppose over consumption and multi-national corporations. But vegans also have homes and jobs, commuting daily, buying their food from local shops and supermarkets, living a modern, Western life. And participating in the capitalist economy as workers and consumers. The life of the freegan is unattainable for the majority of Western society. And if everyone were to adopt the same lifestyle, the resources would quickly run out and the system would deteriorate. However, the beliefs and ideals they support are something we should all consider. When shopping, choosing items with the least amount of packaging. This could mean talking to your local shops and asking them to stop individually wrapping the fruits and vegetables unnecessarily. Always carry a reusable bag with you, educate yourself on why plastic bags are so hazardous.
Once you understand fully you’ll never take a plastic bag again. Buy a water filter so that you have fresh, clean water coming out of your tap and you no longer need to buy bottled water. Shop locally, try to buy thing that originate in your community of region and shop in season. Both of these options will prevent excess carbon from entering out atmosphere, as there’s no long haul journey for our food to make. Vegans are already accustomed to seeking out pleather shoes, fining fancy footwear that hasn’t cost a life. Taking this cruelty-free idea one step further to incorporate all of your clothing. Buying fair trade items that were made with natural fibres. Buying clothes made of such things as hemp, bamboo and cotton is utilizing a renewable resource while minimizing the artificial, processed materials your skin comes in contact with. Reusing bath/shower water to feed the garden or lawn. Cycling or taking public transport where possible. Buying into a car co-op where it’s not. Getting a library card to stop you buying books. Or if you can’t stop buying books, look into bookcrossings.com where you can release your books into the wild for someone else’s reading pleasure. Removing animal products from your diet and lifestyle is no longer enough to claim a cruelty-free existence. The amount of abuse and misuse our world suffers, all vegans and non-vegans alike should exercise cruelty-free environmental and economical practices as well. If being freegan is taking things too far, then is being vegan taking things far enough? The only person who can answer that question is you.
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CLEMENT Foraging based restaurant in New York City. article By denise smith
We recently followed master forager Evan Strusinski and Clement head chef Brandon Kida into the Vermont woods to see what the foraged-food movement is all about. Chef Kida makes the six-hour pilgrimage from his Midtown Manhattan restaurant to central Vermont, where Strusinski is temporarily based. Weaving in and out of cell service and down country roads, Kida wonders aloud about what they might find today. “When you’re trying to develop a particular dish, it’s helpful to see where the ingredients come from,” Kida says, adding that pairings become more instinctive and appreciation for the food grows. “You’re not going to take that precious morel mushroom and cover it in chimichurri sauce,” he says. Strusinski greets him outside a red barn where he camps out for a few weeks every spring. A native of Vermont’s Green Mountains and full-time forager, Strusinski migrates from Pennsylvania to Maine eight months out of the year, gathering ingredients for dozens of elite restaurants.
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Evan strusinski the restaurant owner in his ele� ment. Foraging for his weekend full of tables and customers at his new yourk city restaurant.
We start at a bog down the road, one of Strusinski’s preferred spots for harvesting sweet flag, a type of field plant. He sells more than 300 species of plants to restaurants like The French Laundry, Gramercy Tavern, and the entire Momofuku empire, so he has to keep a tight mental catalog of places where he can expect to find ingredients in high concentration for that time of year. After all, this is his livelihood. People hear “foraging” and think of weekenders retreating into the woods with a wicker basket in one hand and a glass of rosé in the other. “You have to be efficient,” Strusinski says. “There’s no wandering. I schedule my day around the things I need.” Normally, Strusinski drives his vintage Volvo 240 station wagon to the city once a week to make deliveries. But a few times a month, a client-chef will travel north to share in the experience and find inspiration. As we walk to the bog, we cross a number of “No Trespassing” signs. Strusinski, who grew up in this town but says few locals remember him, says they hang signs not to keep people off their property, but to deter hunters from shooting there. Still, foraging regulations vary state by state, so Strusinski will often ask the homeowners for permission before picking on their property. Strusinski, wearing long pants to shield his legs from poison ivy and a hat to protect his eyes from bugs and spiderwebs, rummages in the mud with his bare hands. He returns with a stalk of sweet flag, which he says was one of Henry David Thoreau’s favorite plants. Kida breathes in the aroma of the sweet flag, which feels like celery and is said to emit “the fragrance of spring,” and decides he would infuse it in a broth. Strusinski snatches a leaf from a passing branch to dry his
There’s no wandering. I schedule my day around the things I need.
restaurant highlight
The trick to foraging, especially for morels, is to look for the parts rather than the whole. “You just scan for a certain color or certain texture. Morels are so well concealed by everything around them, that you have to spot a variation in the theme,” he adds. “And then you start seeing them sort of everywhere.” In awe, Kida turns one over in his hands and thinks about how it will taste roasted in brown butter. “If you were down in New York City, you could not pay enough to find a mushroom
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hands. As they walk, he touches, smells, and tastes dozens of wild plants, which passersby might never expect to be safe for consumption. The most dangerous thing he encounters in these woods is “a song that I don’t particularly like, stuck in my head,” he says. “Lookalikes,” or plants not suitable for eating that resemble edible plants, do exist. But it’s not hard to learn the basics of foraging through field guides and books. “If you know how to find a carrot in the grocery store, you could not misidentify a chanterelle mushroom,” Strusinski says. “The color is specific, the smell is absolute.” We hop in the car and drive 20 minutes to a more rural area. It’s time to go after the holy grail: morel mushrooms. Strusinski says mushrooms were the “gateway drug” that got him into foraging. He spent mornings scavenging for mushrooms as a young man working at a restaurant, became intoxicated by the hunt, and decided to turn foraging into a full-time gig.
Evan has a secret spot where he can find the juciest and most delicious grapes for his recipes.
of this quality,” he beams. “It just can’t be reproduced as well as nature does it.” Fresh morels can cost as much as $45 a pound. It’s no surprise, then, that Strusinski is a bit paranoid about competitors: He can’t afford to have recreational pickers claiming his goods. “If a car comes, ditch the basket. Not because we’re trespassing, but because I don’t want anyone to know about the morels,” he instructs us. “Any mushroom collector worth his salt will do that kind of thing.” Because Strusinski travels all over the Northeast, he will sometimes flag down passing cars or knock on strangers’ doors to pick their brains about an area. We are warned to be careful when handling angelica, a celery-like plant, because it causes photodermatitis. If you touch the inside of the stalk and expose the skin to sunlight, UV rays will discolor the skin for a couple weeks. Five hours later, the crew smiles at their loot, fills the back of the Volvo, and heads to Strusinski’s home base, where they’ll package the ingredients for deliveries. He will pack the ingredients into these large cardboard and styrofoam containers and cram them like Tetris pieces into the Volvo on delivery day. He will portion the ingredients as he hops from restaurant to restaurant. A very gleeful Kida loads his bounty — garlic mustard, garlic scapes, ramps, ginger root, angelica, daisies, and of course, morels — into the rental car. A few days later, we stop by Kida’s restaurant, Clement at The Peninsula New York, to see a field-to-table meal come to fruition. The menu at Clement changes weekly based on what’s local, what’s in season, and any surprises from Strusinski’s travels. For the tasting menu this evening, Kida has conceptualized a black sea bass dish accented by four of the ingredients he foraged. The final product takes our breath away. Every bite tastes fresher than the last, a direct result of the quality of the ingredients foraged. Kida is convinced foraged fare is here to stay. He asked us to imagine nibbling on a fresh daisy bud yanked from the ground or sampling ingredients straight from Mother Nature on his tasting menu. “Now imagine if I told you that you could never ever, for the remainder of your life, have that again,” he says. 25
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