CHAPTER 10

FORGOTTEN FOOD: FORAGING

Humanity has foraged for food since before the advent of agriculture.

TODAY, MANY CULTURES around the globe still keep the old traditions alive, even though they may no longer need to eat wild foods to survive. In Scandinavia, it is a common practice in the long summer days for most everyone to fill baskets with berries, mushrooms, wild herbs, and sea plants. Meanwhile, here in the United States, wild mushroom collecting is so popular that in order to prevent overharvesting it is often regulated by local and state governments. But you needn’t go to state forests (foraging may be illegal in some states) to find the weeds that may be in your backyard. There can be a little bit of wild almost anywhere, overlooked and “wasted.”

When NOMA wanted to make a true local and seasonal cuisine, we started looking at everyday things around us. We didn’t stop at the farms.

We saw the forest, we saw the sea. Frankly, I was thinking, How the f* is there going to be enough fresh food to get from there in the dead of winter? But yes: You can put a forest on the plate. It’s delicious. It’s good for you.