INCLUDING WILD FOODS IN YOUR DIET: SOME CAUTIONARY CONCERNS
Christopher Nyerges [www.SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com]
[Nyerges is the author of “Guide to Wild Foods,” “Foraging California,” “Foraging Wild Edible Plants of North America,” and other books. He has been teaching ethno-botany since 1974. See more details at www.SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com]
From my teens when I was hiking and backpacking, I enjoyed learning about wild foods, one by one, and incorporating them into my diet. I do recall certain botany teachers who would tell me that “the Indians ate this plant,” but the teacher never tried eating the plant themselves. That wasn’t enough for me. I wanted to know how the plant tasted, and what it would mean to include it in my diet.
I have never tried to live exclusively from wild plants, except for short periods of time, never more than 2 weeks, though I do eat some wild foods nearly every day. For me, I wanted to know each wild plant intimately, and let my body get accustomed to it as well. I know that some people have a hard time adjusting to new food, such as when they move to a new country.
I have attempted to eat every new wild food that I learned about. Some I continued to eat regularly to this day. And some others, well – I could see why even native peoples in the past only ate them when no other foods were available.
I have conducted wild food cooking workshops over the years, where the majority of each dish was from a wild plant. Such meals would include bread and pancakes from acorns and wild buckwheat, omelettes with cactus and wild greens, soup from nettles and mustard greens, drinks and deserts from elderberries and wild cherries, and even coffee substitutes from such plants as California coffeeberry.
While I have been accused of having an “iron stomach,” such is not the case. I can’t – and don’t – just eat “anything.” I have always preferred that my food tastes good, whether it was from the wild or not. I prefer a good aroma, and good texture to the foods I eat. I am not exactly a cook, but I do like to enjoy my meals.
These days, I advocate that people carefully learn about the nutritious wild foods, and work with each new plant, one at a time, until you know you like it, and your body accepts it.
ELDERBERRY
There are cases where you need to be extra cautious. For example, I have long pressed the fruits of wild elderberry and drank the juice once chilled. At one of my wild food gatherings, I served guests a small glass of the chilled juice. One man liked it so much that he kept asking for more, which I gave him. Later I learned he was out in the front yard vomiting. I learned that day that, though raw elder juice doesn’t bother me, the fruit should always be gently cooked first before serving to a general audience. Raw elder fruits should be dried, or lightly simmered, before making into juice, jams, jellies, or other deserts.
On another occasion, one of our students kept nibbling at the raw elderberry fruits we’d collected. He ate perhaps two handfuls of the fruit and within an hour, experienced an unpleasant case of vomiting and diarrhea at a nearby bathroom. It was not a pleasant experience, he told us.
Elder is not unique in this way. Many foods can cause vomiting or sickness if not prepared properly, or if it is eaten on an empty stomach.
YUCCA
In the spring, I sometimes cut the emerging flower stalk of the yucca plant, and enjoy it raw in salads. The texture is akin to jicama. It’s crisp, with often a slight bitter flavor due to the presence of saponins in the yucca plant. I have also cooked yucca shoots in soup and sauteed with other vegetables, and always enjoyed them.
However, somewhat recently when I made a soup with yucca shoots, several people vomited and were not happy with the experience. I researched by talking to some chefs and chemists, and learned that indeed the saponins in yucca can cause people to vomit. But if the shoots are boiled for a minimum of 15 minutes, with the water discarded, the yucca won’t cause any ill effects.
NOTE: This wild yucca of southern California is Hesperoyucca whipplei, and it is totally unrelated to the root you sometimes see in supermarkets called “yucca” or “yuca,” which is closer akin to tapioca.
CHICKEN OF THE WOODS MUSHROOM
I am often concerned about enthusiastic foragers serving the chicken of the woods mushroom which has only been gently sauteed. Fortunately, I had some very good mycology mentors who taught me to always boil the tender pieces of this fungus in at least three changes of water to get rid of the acid before moving on to breading the pieces or sauteeing them. It’s true that some people can eat this tasty mushroom without the boiling, but I prefer to err on the side of caution.
“COFFEE” FROM CALIFORNIA COFFEEBERRY
One of my favorite wild food drinks is made from the roasted seeds from the California coffeeberry plant, a native plant unrelated to “real” coffee. I learned decades ago that those who enjoyed the flavor of coffee, but not the caffein, enjoyed roasting California coffee berry seeds, grinding them, and percolating them into a coffee-like beverage. The beverage smells like coffee, though the flavor is slightly distinctive. Nevertheless, I always enjoyed drinking it as I would regular coffee. Keep in mind that the bark of this bush has long been used as a laxative, so its cathartic effects are well-known, but the beverage from the seed never had this effect – on me. After serving this beverage many times to students, I found there was a high percentage of vomiting. People don’t like to vomit, and so I have stopped serving this to anyone.
In spite of these hazards, I’m a big fan of encouraging people to expand their diets for both nutritional and survival benefits. But do it slowly, and with caution. Listen to your body. Take the time to prepare wild foods properly, just like you would properly prepare any conventional foods.
