Stalking the Wild Asparagus, and Other Spring Edibles

For any of you who grew up with Euell Gibbons in your library, the above title will have a familiar ring. Euell Gibbons, born in 1911, is considered by many to have been a trailblazer of the third wave of the back-to-the-land movement in the 1960s and 1970s, one of the early and widely-read writers to endorse foraging as a way of nourishing ourselves and our families.

Of course Native Americans knew all about the value of seeking foods in the wild, but America—in the 1960s at least—had been moving away from natural produce, suggesting that food out of a can was the hip way to go.

Funny how things circle back around, with today’s public, particularly post-pandemic, tuning in increasingly to the habits of our grandfathers and grandmothers, or even great-great-grandparents; finally waking up to the richness of locally gathered food, particularly that grown in the wild.

As spring wakes up around and underfoot in these Appalachian hills and hollers, many treasures are just outside our doorsteps, increasing as we venture into the woods. Branch lettuce, dandelions, creasy greens, greenbrier shoots, mustard greens, pokeweed, chickweed, crinkleroot, winter cress, violets, wild ginger, spring beauties, sweet cicely, wild onion, ramps, watercress, wild lettuce, wood sorrel, nettles, trout lilies, sochan, dock, lamb’s quarters, wild asparagus (of course). These are but a slice of what we might find as we wander fields and woods and even our own backyard.

Later on in the season we will feed on day lilies, may apples, milkweed, raspberry maple, wineberries, huckleberries, black walnuts, hickory nuts, chestnuts. We will steep teas from birch twigs, spicebush twigs, sassafras root, goldenrod, daisies, clover.

And of course there are the mushrooms: morels, chanterelles, black trumpets, boletes, hen of the woods, chicken of the woods, lobster mushrooms, lion’s mane, puffballs, oyster mushrooms, hedgehog mushrooms, cinnabars, blewits…and the native truffle species of which we are just recently becoming aware, and which require a trained dog to unearth their musky deliciousness.

We haven’t even touched on game: squirrel, rabbit, turkey, grouse, dear, bear, wild boar, raccoon, opossum, groundhog, rattlesnake, crawfish, catfish, mountain trout… how adventurous do you want to get?

For the backyard foragers, here are a few ingredients you can welcome into your repertoire to make you feel just savvy enough without having to sharpen up your hunting knives or put on your snake boots.

To hone your skills further throughout the year, you can join me the last Saturday of each month for a foraging-cooking-dining adventure, beginning with a couple of hours exploring the woods, followed by a hands-on session in my kitchen, complete with wood stove, and ending up with a multi-course, wine-paired dinner topped off with songs and stories. quintessentialtable.com/appalachian-culinary-experience

Morels

Morels (Morchella spp.) are some of the earliest edibles to appear in the springtime, and some of the least likely to be misidentified. They are also some of the most difficult to spot amidst the leafy leftovers of winter.

Favorite hangouts are at the base of tulip poplars, striped maple, and old apple trees, the first two being early growth forested climes and the latter being open fields.

The best possible way to enjoy these rare beauties is to halve and sauté them in butter, adding a few grains of salt just at the end. Serve on their own or as a topping to baked potatoes or buttered pasta, or on top of toast as a crostini.

Or stuff with a mixture of shallots and bread crumbs and fresh herbs, sautéed in butter and bake gently.

Daylilies

With more than 35,000 registered cultivars, the daylily (Hemerocallis spp.) is one of the world’s most prolific and varied flowering plants. Despite its common name, it is not a true lily. While true lilies are toxic to humans, all parts of daylilies are edible: shoots, roots, stems, leaves, buds and flower petals.

Try gathering the young buds and sautéing them ever so lightly, and using them as a garnish or as an addition to a stir fry. Gather young shoots and cook like asparagus. Boil the tuber and serve with butter like a potato. Separate the petals and toss in a salad, or use the entire flower to garnish a cake or any dish you confect during the blossoming season.

Eat a small amount to start out with, and make certain you have gathered a daylily and not a true lily. Also, take care to gather from a spot that has not been sprayed (avoid public roadsides).

Daylilies are rich in vitamin A and vitamin C, and also are a source of iron and protein.

Poke Sallet

Poke sallet (Phytolacca americana) has long been a staple in the Appalachian South. As Southern Foodways Alliance member Joe York says, it’s free and you don’t even have to plant it or weed it. “Some people can’t live without it once they’ve tasted it.”

In 1968 Tony Joe White wrote and recorded “Poke Salad Annie,” which was later covered by Elvis, and featured some spectacular moves and classic Elvis expressions that make you want to go out and gather a mess this instant:

Every day for supper time, she’d go down by the truck patch

And pick her a mess of poke salad, and carry it home in a tow sack

Polk salad Annie, the ’gators got your granny

Everybody says it was a shame

’Cause her momma was a-workin’ on the chain gang

If you’d like to experiment, here’s what to do.

Ingredients:

• Pailful of young poke leaves
• Lots of salted water
• A couple of tablespoons of bacon fat

Preparation:

Wash and parboil the poke leaves, making sure no stems or berries have fallen into the bucket. Pour off the water and parboil a second and (optionally) third time to be certain that any toxins have been removed. (If you have gathered young leaves without a trace of purple, you are probably safe from any serious toxicity.)

Strain and sauté in bacon fat, and serve alongside chicken or pork, and mashed potatoes. Top, if you are lucky enough to have them, with sautéed ramps.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Susi Gott Séguret, CCP, CSW, hails from the depths of Appalachia in Madison County, North Carolina, but honed her culinary skills in France, where she resided for over 20 years, earning a diploma in Gastronomy and Taste from the Cordon Bleu and the Université de Reims. Author of several cookbooks including Appalachian Appetite, and Cooking with Truffles, Susi orchestrates multiple sensory experiences including the Seasonal School of Culinary Arts, the Asheville Truffle Experience, and the Appalachian Culinary Experience. Passionate about elements of taste and style, and how they extend from our palate into our daily lives, Susi strives to blend food, music, words and images into a tapestry for the senses. For more details, visit quintessentialtable.com.