Meadows are well-known as a source of wild culinary delights, but forests don’t immediately come to mind. We are familiar with wild garlic that grows in woodland during the spring, and mushrooms that appear from summer onwards. But what about birch leaves, tree resin or tree fruits such as acorns?
With the coronavirus crisis in particular, many people are rediscovering forests as a source of calm and joy. So while you’re in the forest, why not seek inspiration for a culinary adventure – or your next evening meal. There are now several books available that explain which parts of trees are edible and how you can cook them. Here are a couple of tips:
Karin Greiner: Bäume – in Küche und Heilkunde, AT Verlag (German)
Karin Greiner is well versed in wild and medicinal plants. In this book, she shows us how we can all use trees for cooking even in our everyday cuisine, for example, by frying maple blossom.
Heiko Antoniewicz, Ludwig Maurer: Wilder Wald, Matthaes Verlag (German)
This new book demonstrates how forests can be used in fine dining recipes. It’s a high-calibre publication with some fabulously beautiful photos. The recipes call for some ingredients that can’t be found in the average household. However, amateur chefs will be able to extract individual elements, such as the idea of letting braised carrots mature in larch needles.
Pascal Baudar: “Wildcrafted Fermentation”, Chelsea Green Publishing (English)
In this book the author combines wild plants with the fermentation method. And the forest plays an important role in this regard. For example, Pascal Baudar demonstrates step-by-step how to burn out a tree trunk to create a container for fermentation, and then how to use it.