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FORAGER | CHEF

Award-winning chef, author and forager Alan Bergo. Food is all around you.

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Appetizers

Cheremsha: Siberian-Style Fermented Ramp Leaves

Fermented ramp leaves (Черемша) in a wooden ladle

Cheremsha, also known as Tjeremsha and Черемша are a wild allium used to make one of the most interesting traditional foods I’ve tasted to date.  Essentially, you can think of them as lacto-fermented ramp leaves, although the traditional plant used to make the ferment is Allium victorialis-the victory onion, reputed to have been brought to…

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Huitlacoche Elotes

Huitlacoche or corn mushroom elotes recipe

Huitlacoche elotes, or corn brushed with black mushroom puree with cheese and hot chili is my heartfelt, smutty love letter to Mexican street food and mushrooms.  Sweet corn season is in full swing here in the Midwest: stands filled with green spears of golden kernels dot the roadsides, parking lots of neighborhood watering holes, private…

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Huitlacoche Quesadilla

Quesadilla de huitlacoche cut into triangles

A simple quesadilla with huitlacoche / corn mushrooms / corn smut is probably a contender for one of the best quesadillas I’ve had, especially if you’re new to cooking with huitlacoche, or, you like it and you want to sneak it into a meal to convert people.  A traditional meat substitute  Huitlacoche is a traditional…

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Huitlacoche Choriqueso

Huitlacoche choriqueso in a pan with chips

Choriqueso, the ultra-rich appetizer/dish of chorizo sausage baked with cheese or cheese sauce on top is good on its own, but it’s incredible with huitlacoche / corn mushrooms thrown in the mix. It’s a really unique appetizer for feeding a crowd, and a great way to introduce people to huitlacoche.  Grated cheese or sauce?  Order…

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Wild Fennel Cakes

Wild fennel frond cakes recipe

Wild fennel is one of the most invasive plants I’ve ever seen, growing in massive stands on the West Coast. It’s similar to your garden variety fennel, looking near identical, but with one big difference: there’s not really a bulb. Wild fennel cakes are one of the best things I’ve made with them, and, unlike…

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Georgian Walnut Spread / Phkali

Black walnut phkali spread made with lambs quarters

The foods of the Caucuses are fascinating. One of the most interesting things I’ve found is Phkali–a sort of spread that might remind you of pesto made from nuts, herbs and spices. I think I found my first version of the recipe in Dara Goldstein’s book on Georgian food, and from there I made some…

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Korean Acorn Jelly / Dotorimuk

Korean Acorn Jelly or Dotorimuk Recipe

Have you ever seen packages of acorn starch in your local Asian market and wondered what it’s used to make? Acorn starch is used to make dotorimuk (doh-tohree-mook) a sort of traditional Korean jelly, and, as far as I can tell, it’s probably the most widely consumed acorn recipe in the world.  Acorn starch vs…

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Marinated Feta with Golpar and Herbs

Marinated feta with golpar and green coriander

I’d struggle to think of anyone I know that doesn’t like marinated cheese. This marinated feta is probably my favorite recipe from my book using golpar / cow parsnip seed. Typically the seeds are ground and mixed with cumin or another spice and used to season beans and a few other traditional dishes like whole…

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Alan Bergo
Morels: the only wild mushroom I count by the each Morels: the only wild mushroom I count by the each instead of the pound. 

Good day today, although my Twin Cities spots seem a full two weeks behind from the late spring. 2 hours south they were almost all mature. 

76 for me and 152 for the group. Check your spots, and good luck! 

#morels #murkels #mollymoochers #drylandfish #spongemushroom #theprecious
The first time I’ve seen fungal guttation-a natu The first time I’ve seen fungal guttation-a natural secretion of water I typically see with plants. 

I understand it as an indicator that the mushrooms are growing rapidly, and a byproduct of their metabolism speeding up. If you have some clarifications, chime in. 

Most people know it from Hydnellum 
peckii-another polypore. I’ve never seen it on pheasant backs before.

Morels are coming soon too. Mine were 1 inch tall yesterday in the Twin Cities. 

#guttation #mushroomhunting #cerioporussquamosus #pheasantback #naturesbeauty
Rain and heat turned the flood plain forest into a Rain and heat turned the flood plain forest into a grocery store. 

#groceryshopping #sochan #rudbeckialaciniata #foraging
Italian wild food traditions are some of my favori Italian wild food traditions are some of my favorite. 

Case in point: preboggion, a mixture of wild plants, that, depending on the reference, should be made with 5-23 individual plants. 

Here’s a few mixtures I’ve made this spring, along with a reference from the Oxford companion to Italian food. 

The mixture should include some bitter greens (typically assorted asters) but the most important plant is probably borage. 

Making your own version is a good excercise. Here they’re wilted with garlic and oil, but there’s a bunch of traditional recipes the mixture is used in. 

Can you believe this got cut from my book?!

#preboggion #preboggiun #foraging #traditionalfoods
Oh the things I get in the mail. This is my kind Oh the things I get in the mail. 

This is my kind of tip though: a handmade buckskin bag with a note and a handful of bleached snapping turtle claws. 😁😂 

Sent in by Leslie, a reader. 

Smells like woodsmoke and the cat quickly claimed it as her new bed. 

#buckskin #mailsurprise #turtleclaws #thisimylife #cathouse
Bluebell season. Destined for a Ligurian ravioli Bluebell season. 

Destined for a Ligurian ravioli as a replacement for the traditional borage greens. 

#mertensiavirginica #virginiabluebells #spring #foraging
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