The Wild Taste – Plant and Mushroom Recipes for the Knowledgeable Cook by Kathryn and Andrew March

March and March have been writing about and experimenting with wild foods for years. Their first publication was “Common Edible and Medicinal Plants of Colorado” in 1979. Kate March studied cooking at the China Institute in New York City, and with various chefs. “The Wild Taste”, aside from an Appendix, is all recipes. The recipes range from traditional Americana to International cuisine using wild foods. They cover almost a recipe a page for 270 pages of text.

At the beginning of 3 chapters (Pickles; Jelly; Teas Beers & Soft Drinks), they briefly covered the principles of preparing or processing foods. The Appendix includes 3 small nutrient tables, a list of conventional foods you can use in place of wild foods, 109 brief notes on edible plants and 28 brief notes on mushrooms. These notes are pretty useless relative to the information you can get from the books on the edibility page at this site.

The following chapters are found in Kate and Andrew’s book: Appetizers, Salads, Soups, Chinese Dishes, Indian Dishes, Main Courses, One Dish Meals, Vegetable Dishes and Sauces, Desserts, Pickles, Jellies, and Herbal Teas Beers and Soft Drinks. Latin names are not consistently used throughout the book. Some of the recipes are titled: “Young Waterleaf with Shrimp and Prosciutto”, “Pennycress and Swiss Cheese Souffle with Wild Onion and Tarragon”, and “Lamb Chops Stuffed with Prickly Lettuce and Oyster Mushroom”. This book is recommended for the shear number of recipes it gives. The recipes would be fun to try for anyone who enjoys cooking with wild foods.

Order a copy from  Amazon