Wood ears (Auricularia auricula-judae) are a very versatile mushroom, as this recipe proves. They have no distinct flavor, so they can be used in savory and sweet dishes (for example, as thikening agent: https://chefofnature.com/?p=959). In this recipe, the mushroom provides a chocolate mousse texture to a Valentine’s chocolate cake.
Saurkraud is a popular ingredient in many Easter European dishes. It can be used as a base for soups or as a dumpling filling. Saurkraud is made of fermented cabbage. The cultivated cabbage belongs to the same Brassica family as the black mustard (Brassica nigra) and wild (field) mustard (Brassica arvensis). Wild Brassicas have a stronger taste than their cultivated cousins, with noticeable mustard and broccoli flavors (broccoli belongs to the same family). They can be fermented in the same way as cultivated cabbage. You can use the fermented mustard in many ways, for example, together with mushrooms as a
Not many mushrooms are good edibles raw. The beef steak mushroom (Fistulina hepatica), however, is one of the few that is. Because it has a meaty texture and look, it is a perfect mushroom to turn into a steak tartar. The original steak tartare is made with finely chopped raw beef, and has its origin in late 19th-century French cuisine. We swapped the beef for a beef steak mushroom and were very happy with the result! For a further wild twist, we replaced pepper with waterpepper (Persicaria hydropiper) and instead of using Worcester sauce, we used the liquid we had
The beef steak mushroom (Fistulina hepatica) is a rather unique-looking mushroom appearing in the fall on oak trees or oak tree remains. As its name suggests, it resembles a piece of steak, including a blood-like juice coming from it when cut. The structure of this mushroom is also rather meat-like, which inspired us to make jerky out of it. Left: The beef steak mushroom growing on a tree, note the red juice drops that resemble blood. Right: mushroom prepared like traditional steak. The beef steak mushroom can be eaten cooked, but also raw, for example, as a topping for a
Dyrad saddle (Polyporus squamosus) can be a tough mushroom to cook, literally if you pick it too late, as it becomes rubber-like and inedible. Together with morels, it’s one of the mushrooms to kick off the mushroom season. Unfortunately, this year, there were very few morels around, so we had to be creative with Dyrad saddle. Young Dyad saddle in prima condition to pick, and the mushroom turned into kebap. We applied the same technique used to make home made chicken kebap, where you marinate the meat and then freeze it, after which you can make very thin slices of
The taste of the oven-baked rice with apples dish brings back childhood memories. This simple Polish dish was an inspiration for this recipe. The fruit flavor of Japanese knotweed (Reynoutria japonica) combined with rice and cinnamon resembles the childhood favorite quite well. Knotweed also has a perfect structure to be filled with something. Knotweed shoots consist of hollow pipes connected with “joints”. Through the process of long baking, the aroma and flavour of the plant soaks into the rice and makes it irresistible. Rice desserts are very popular in many countries in the world. For example, Khao tom mud is
Many countries have their version of potato pancakes and so does Sweden where they call it “Raggmunk”. In Sweden, they are typically served with bacon and lingonberry jam, which we both replaced by wild counterparts for which we already posted recipes previously. We replaced potatoes with Jerusalem artichokes, which are less starchy so this recipe requires a bit more flour then usual to achieve the right binding. In our first batch, we didn’t adjust yet and found out that increasing the amount of flour by 10% resulted in the perfect binding.
One must have at the Christmas dinner tables in Poland is herring. There are multiple varieties of traditional Christmas herring, including mustard herring, sour cream herring, or Kashubian-style herring. Kashubian-style herring originated in the Kashubian region of north Poland but is also very popular in other parts of this country. The fermented herring is mixed with tomato sauce, aromatics, and raisins or prunes. It can be prepared in advance, a day or two before Christmas because it will develop the flavor with time. In this recipe, we recreated beloved Christmas’ herring using fermented shaggy inkcap mushrooms. We chose shaggy inkcap mushrooms
Massaman curry is a famous Thai curry that has been ranked number one in the CNN travel best food of the world ranking. There is some debate about the origin of this dish. The most widely accepted origin story is that this dish has Persian roots. This follows from the name of the dish and its ingredients. The word Massaman could be derived from the old Persian word for Muslim. The dish contains spices that are not common in other Thai curries and the trade in these spices was in the past dominated by Muslims. Key components of this dish
In this recipe, we made truly fermented pickles using wild aromatics. Most pickles, you can buy in shops, are not fermented but pickled using vinegar, which has its place, but gives a different flavor profile. In Eastern Europe, fermented pickles are strongly preferred and used as an ingredient, for example, in pickle soup (see serving suggestions). Typical aromatics added to pickles when fermenting are mustard seeds, horse radish, garlic, dill, and kale leaves. We found mustard (Sinapis arvensis) seeds in the wild. The other ingredients we substituted with garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) root, wild garlic (Allium ursinum) bulbs, hogweed (Heracleum