Ever wonder what Adirondackers might have eaten back in the
day? They didn’t have Hannafords or Wegmans to get their next meals from. Adirondackers
hunted and fished for their meat, and farmed if they could, but more often than
not, much of their food had to be foraged. They made resourceful and
adventurous choices when it came to food, giving us a wide variety of resources
to try our own backyard-scavenged concoctions today. Below are just a few
forest finds that have made their way into Adirondack foods and drinks.
Helicopters:
Also known as samaras, keys, or whirligigs, these seedpods
from maple trees are edible and delicious, although there are varying accounts
of what their taste actually is. They are packed with protein and
carbohydrates, and once they’re peeled from their pods, these maple seeds can be
eaten raw, roasted and spiced, added to salads, or dried and made into a flour.
Cattails:
Sometimes referred to as ‘nature’s supermarket’, almost
every part of the cattail can be used. The pollen in the flower spikes are high
in protein and vitamin A and are boiled and eaten like corn on the cob. Stalks can be eaten raw or cooked just like asparagus, and roots full
of carbohydrates and can be baked, broiled, or made into a flour as well.
Dandelions:
They’re not only for salads. The flowers can be made into
dandelion wine, or battered and fried into fritters, and the roots roasted,
ground, and brewed into a caffeine-free coffee substitute.
Crickets:
A favorite among entomologists, crickets can be fried up as
fritters, sautéed with vegetables, and dried and ground into a flour. They’re
low in calories, high in protein, and contain many vitamins and minerals,
including iron and calcium.
If none of these foraged items appeal to you, don’t worry, there are thousands more that can be added to your next meal. You can make teas
from black or yellow birch, make syrup from not just maples, but also birch and
black walnut trees, or even drink the sap straight from the tree. You can make
alcoholic beverages using persimmons,
elderberries, juniper berries, pumpkins, corn-stalks, hickory nuts, sassafras
bark, birch bark, as colonial New Englanders used to. You can add wild mustard,
red or white clover, common sheep sorrel or common wood-sorrel, wild violets
and oxeye daisies to your salads and other dishes. The list goes on and on.
As
always, if you’re considering exploring the world of foraged foods, be cautious
against potentially toxic plants. Make sure to double-check your finds and how
they should be prepared properly. And of course, don’t lose your curious mind
and adventurous stomach.
Sources:
I really enjoyed reading this post. I guess I never realized how the small plant life that I usually overlook actually had a purpose and were often used in meals. I remember as a kid I always loved peeling apart the helicopters (or samaras), I never realized the seeds inside were actually edible. Also I didn't know the variety of different ways dandelions could be used.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea you could use some of these plants for food. In our world we restrict ourselves to a very limited amount of food groups. I think it's very important to become educated on all of the varieties of food that are out there. Some of them may be in our backyards.
ReplyDeleteLove this post! I always find that foraging and using local wild plants has always been underrated in the modern world! I've had salad made from dandelions and also sauce made from crickets in gourmet restaurants! Also, my grandmother was an expert when it came to wild mushrooms, and there's one species that my dad can safely identify... best meals ever...
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