DAYLILY BUDS
There are many excellent techniques that you can use to preserve foraged products so that you can continue to enjoy them months after the original harvest. All of the specific products mentioned in this chapter are covered in detail in the chapter entitled “A Wild Foods Primer”.
DAYLILY BUDS
Dehydrating is one of the best techniques for preserving wild foods. Removing water extends the shelf life of many products like mushrooms and berries. Greens are best consumed fresh but dehydration can be used to make teas and seasoning mixtures. Seaweed can be dehydrated to make excellent products with a long shelf life. I use a high-end home unit made by Excalibur. It is basically a box with twelve racks that can be loaded up with fruit, vegetables, or mushrooms and set to gently dry products over a number of hours or overnight. If you process a lot of food, it is highly recommended. The drying takes place by the use of a fan and a small thermostat-controlled heat source. The gentle and continuous air dries the product evenly without browning the product. It makes prefect dried berries and tasty fruit leathers from purées, and is a great way to almost infinitely preserve a harvest of wild mushrooms. Alternative methods are sun drying on racks, using an oven on the lowest setting (with the door cracked open), or placing the materials on a rack over a heat source like a water heater, wood stove, or heating radiator.
Once I have dehydrated a product, I use a vacuum sealer to keep the product crisp and keep moisture out of the product. Unsealed products will gradually reabsorb moisture, particularly in moist environments or seasons. Properly sealed the materials will have a very long shelf life, possibly for several years if kept in a dark and cool place.
Dried mushrooms pack a lot of flavour. Grinding the dried mushroom into a powder allows you to take those flavours to a whole new world of cooking. I use the powder to infuse mushroom flavour in many of my recipes. The key to grinding the mushroom into a powder is starting with a very dry mushroom. A dried mushroom will tend to reabsorb moisture out of the atmosphere it is stored in. If the mushroom is soft and bendable, reheat it in an oven heated to 350°F (180°C) for 2 to 3 minutes. Allow the mushroom to cool (it will crisp up as it cools). Use a small electric coffee grinder (or spice grinder) to make small batches of powder. The powder will keep indefinitely if stored in a tightly closed container. Porcini is my favourite mushroom to grind, but shiitake, button, and fairy ring mushrooms also make great powders.
Much like mushrooms, dried seaweed can be used to infuse a lot of flavour into baked goods, sauces, and even protein drinks. The seaweed will add a little salt to whatever you are making so keep this in mind when using the powder. The easiest seaweed to make powders from is the Porphyra (nori) family. It is a delicate seaweed that dries well and easily crumbles into a powder.
Grind seaweed in a spice grinder and store in a glass container with a tight-fitting lid. I use canning jars. Will store indefinitely if kept dry.
Freezing is another excellent modern way to store the wild harvest for an extended time. For products like stinging nettles, I soak the leaves in cold water, blanch them in boiling salted water, then drain and refresh in cold water. After squeezing out the excess water, you can freeze the nettles in zip-lock bags for up to 2 months. Placing the nettles in a vacuum bag will extend their life and quality even further. This can be repeated with many wild greens. Vacuum packing products before freezing will increase the shelf life, reducing the chance of freezer burn and the absorption of off odours from other contents of the freezer.
PINE MUSHROOM BUTTONS
Firm mushrooms can be frozen as is, just place on a tray or in a bag and freeze. Once they thaw, the mushrooms will release a lot of juice. A great trick is to cook the mushroom while partially frozen (just thawed enough to cut with a chef knife). Some mushrooms like chanterelles or more delicate mushrooms like oysters are best when sautéed in oil or butter before freezing. The fat will help to coat the mushroom and preserve the aromatic flavours once thawed. Chanterelles in particular tend to oxidize and become bitter when frozen. Using lots of fat to cook the mushrooms will coat the product and minimize the contact with oxygen.
Berries benefit from freezing initially on a tray, allowing you to break up the berries into individual lumps for easier use straight from the freezer. You can also put the berries directly into freezer bags. The downside is the berries may stick together in a large lump if there is any quantity of juice or crushed berries in the mix. This is more of an issue with softer berries like the blackberry.
Shellfish can be frozen in water with 1 teaspoon (5 mL) of salt added per cup. Shuck product, place in a zip-lock bag, and cover with salted water. It will keep frozen for 1 to 2 months. Seaweed can also be frozen using this salted water technique.
At one point, preserving held a prominent place in every kitchen pantry. That was before the freezer became a staple of every modern household. Preserving still is a wonderful technique to use for foraged foods if you use high-sugar or high-acid techniques for preserving. There are important rules to follow when canning foods. The process can create an anaerobic environment, which essentially means “without the presence of large amounts of oxygen.” It’s a prime environment for nasty spores like botulism to flourish. The anaerobic process is not all bad. It is also responsible for fermentation, which gives us wonderful products like dill pickles and kim chee. These products usually rely on salt (sometimes with the help of chilies) to moderate the levels of harmful bacteria.
A. GRAND FIR TIPS B. DRYING PORCINI MUSHROOMS
Unfortunately, there are well-documented cases of mass poisoning from home-canned mushrooms (particularly in oil and when garlic is present—as it is a natural carrier of botulism spores). This can result in serious illness and even death in extreme cases. Pickling with salt, vinegar, and sugar, however, is a relatively safe method of preservation. This is a complicated subject so please consult a good, modern canning resource (like bernardin.ca or freshpreserving.com) for more details. The pickle recipes in this book are made to be consumed quickly and stored in the refrigerator. This eliminates many of the issues with pickling. (See here and here for recipes.)
In my jam recipe (here), I choose to use pectin to help set the jam. Pectin is a naturally occurring substance that contributes to jelling. It helps to somewhat lower the sugar volume needed to set the fruit and is a soluble dietary fibre. As a bonus, some newer research has suggested that pectin helps to lower cholesterol levels.
Before you begin the canning process, rinse your jars and place them in a boiling water canner. Cover them with water and bring the water to a boil. Add the jar lids and simmer for at least 5 minutes. Keep simmering while you make your jam or preserves.
An infusion is the steeping of a substance in liquid (or oil) to extract therapeutic or culinary properties. We have been doing this since the dawn of civilization with soups, teas, and elixirs. You can use water, alcohol, or oils and fat (olive oil, butter, duck fat, etc.) to extract many of these flavour and medicinal components.
The safest infusions are made with vinegar or alcohol (both are natural preservatives). A re-emerging hot trend is to create infusions with alcohol to flavour cocktails. The Japanese have been infusing sake with pine mushrooms for many years. The process is fairly simple. Here are a few delicious examples:
Grand fir needles add a great flavour to the alcohol. You can also use rum or gin with excellent results. Other needles like spruce and pine work well. You could also use rose petals or aromatic herbs like wild fennel to infuse the liquid.
1 cup (250 mL) grand fir tips, needles only
1 bottle (26 oz [800 mL]) good-quality vodka
Place the grand fir needles in a clean 1-quart (1 L) mason jar. Top up with the vodka and screw on the top. Set on your counter for 1 week. The mixture can be strained or you can keep the whole batch in the refrigerator.
A rumtopf is a traditional German drink made with seasonal fruit, sugar, and rum. You can use any combination of wild berries to make this concoction. You can sometimes find ceramic jars used for this purpose in antique stores—they are very similar to crock pots used to ferment sauerkraut. The rumtopf was often made in the late summer and kept on the countertop to infuse until Christmas.
4 cups (1 L) mixed wild berries (blackberries, blueberries, salal berry, etc.)
2 cups (500 mL) sugar
3 cups (750 mL) white rum
Quickly rinse the berries and place in a large ceramic or glass jar with a lid. Add the sugar and toss to mix. Cover the berries with the rum (add a little water if needed to cover the berries). Place a piece of plastic over the jar mouth and cover with the lid. Place on the counter and let infuse for at least 1 month.
If the mixture bubbles and appears to be fermenting, add more rum to stop the fermenting process. For an enhanced forest flavour, you can also add fir, spruce, or pine needles to the infusion for an interesting and delicious effect.
Harvest rosehips after the weather turns cool and the trees have dropped their leaves. A light frost is good for creating a little sweetness in the rosehips.
2 cups (500 mL) rosehips (trimmed of stems)
2 cups (500 mL) cider vinegar
1 Tbsp (15 mL) honey
Rinse the rosehips and cut in half, add to a 4-cup (1 L) glass canning jar. Cover with the vinegar and add the honey. Stir to dissolve honey. Place on counter to steep for 1 week. Transfer to refrigerator and let sit for at least 3 more weeks. Strain into a glass container and use as a salad dressing and cooking ingredient. Keeps in refrigerator indefinitely.
It is surprisingly easy to make your own sea salt. Take 10 quarts (10 L) of seawater and boil it down until the salt crystalizes. You can skim the layer of salt crystals that form on top to make your own fleur de sel (literally “salt flowers”—tiny crystals of salt). You will find it takes a lot of time and energy to create the salt, although it is highly satisfying.
Salt has been used as a preservative since the dawn of civilization. It creates an environment that is inhospitable to bacteria. Salt can also be used to preserve delicate flavours like truffles or aromatic herbs. I process salt and wild herbs to create unusual flavours and beautiful colouring.
Also works with spruce and pine needles. This technique can also be used to create flavoured salts with dehydrated berries (such as salal or red huckleberry).
2 cups (500 mL) sea salt
1 cup (250 mL) grand fir needle tips
Preheat oven to 200°F (95°C). In a food processor, add salt and needle tips. Pulse until a fine green powder is obtained. Transfer to a warm oven and heat for 20 minutes or until salt feels dry. Allow to cool, and then transfer to a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Salt will keep indefinitely.