Foraging,living nature

After food pairing our guest editor, the food blogger Cristiana Grassi, is taking you to the wild. Today she talk about elements such as berries, herbs and fruits is probably the oldest subsistence activity in the world. Throughout several millions of years of evolution, plants have often been generous, accepting to be tamed. We learned how to cultivate our favorite ones and adapt them to our needs, but at the same time, we never stopped picking the wild ones. This was a pretty regular activity in western society until the first half of the 20th century, and it’s still common in other parts of the world.

Now we rediscover this old habit under a new name: foraging or, in other words, how wonderful is to leave home with a comfortable pair of shoes and a basket to stock up on food in the meadows and woods!

Foraging: have fun into the wild

Even though it may seem unbelievable to the most rabid citizens, here in Italy, in the 21st century, nature has still a lot to offer for free (with all that this definition entails). Obviously, it’s unwise to do it anywhere: I would avoid staying too close to the big cities, but we can already get great satisfaction from the first Alpine and Apennine slopes, lawns and secluded spots, abandoned spaces returned to a semi-wild state.

You feel an almost childish joy when you come back home with your arms full of herbs and fruits that can be instantly transformed in a good soup, a tasty side dish or a healthy and alternative dessert.

Never pick up what you don’t recognize

Warning: it’s equally clear that you can never, ever pick up what you don’t recognize with any certainty, starting with mushrooms. Besides that, many dangerous herbs look almost like some other ones that are good for cooking; several berries appear to be harmless fruits while they are full of toxins. So, if you don’t have an old, half-witch aunt to instruct you, it’s better to follow some experts’ advice or get manuals and guides before starting. Otherwise, just make a trip to pick chestnuts, blackberries and prickly pears: that’s a good example of “simple” foraging with the advantage that it’s impossible to confuse them with something else.