Wild Food Cookbook: From the Fields and Forests of the Great Lakes States

by Frances Hamerstrom

Learn how to find, identify and catch nature's delicacies and how to cook meals on hikes, in camp and at home. Readers familiar with Fran will find the same irreverent wit and disarming candor that have drawn so many to her writings; newcomers to Dr. Hamerstrom will discover the distinctive voice of a remarkable woman.

126 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 1988

Reviews

[Carissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fine. If you are into foraging, this is mostly just basic introduction. If you do game hunting, you have some more interesting tidbits in here. Nothing extensive or in-depth, but just a nice, basic overview of wild foods.

[Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

While it is impossible to say what these plants, animals, and fungi would taste like seasoned without discovering them in their respective season, the recipes in here are only as bland as all but one ingredient -- that mysterious wild one. Separated by season, you will read about fiddleheads, marsh marigolds, stinging nettles, how to judge carcasses of wild duck, frogs legs, acorns, and how to use every single edible part of a slain deer. As coddled somewhat by modern recipe books whose ingredients are presented in long marching double lists, I was so often surprised to see recipes in "Wild Foods Cookbook" broken down into basics -- starches, sugar, flesh, salt, splashes of basic flavor. Amounts are for the the reader to decide. And why not? If you are going to scramble through pastures lusting for elderberry flower fritters, or honoring the shot deer's last parts with venison scrapple, or climbing toward wild grape or rose hip to make jelly on that day of perfect ripeness, well perhaps then herb and spice are blasphemy. Eat these foods simply.

Still, a rogue wild chef who must measure beyond the bare suggestions within will find value in the proportions. In the paragraphs that preclude most of the recipes, you will some find valuable instructions on how to collect the ingredients, tips from seasoned naturalists and eaters alike, and a reassuring attitude that suggests you just bolt on ahead with the adventure of it. And you will find imagery of wild-shaped events that sparked the author's imagination, like this jewel: "They may have been gypsies or they may have been Italians, but I shall never forget the day of their coming, for it was the first time I was ever taken for a grownup and the first day I cooked a wild vegetable." The rest of the Frances Hamerstrom's definitively lovely story and her recipe for Dandelion with Sour Cream follow. Awarded an extra star for explaining the choicest parts that customarily go to the one in the kitchen, with none the wiser.