Preboggion, also known as prebuggiun, or prebugiun, is a traditional mix of edible wild plants (piante spontanee or erbe selvatiche if you’re Italian) harvested in Liguria and the Italian Riviera in the Spring, and a foraging tradition I think it’s worth taking a page from. As I researched different uses of wild plants around the…
Leafy Greens | Recipes
Turkish Nettle Salad (Isirgan Salatasi)
Stinging nettle salad sounds like something you’d feed to someone as a punishment. The reality is that it’s a common, traditional nettle recipe from Turkey called Isirgan Salatasi. Last year I shared my new favorite way to cook every forager’s favorite burning weed by steaming them. I don’t think this salad will takes its place,…
Spring Greens Pudding
A spring green pudding made from wild greens, allium leaves and barley flour is an old recipe from times when a household might have had just one pot. To me, it’s the sort of cooking that evokes ancient stone farmhouses with roaring fires heating a joint of game. As an American who grew up with…
Erbazzone (Italian Wild Greens Pie)
Erbazzone, also known as scarpazonne, a rustic pie (technically called a torta) of foraged greens from Emilia Romagna in Northern Italy, is one of the first things I’ll be making again this year. This is a traditional, Italian preparation for greens with lots of modern and unique localized variations that may or may not share…
Jamaican Callaloo with Amaranth
Callaloo, a dish of wild amaranth or other greens, is a great example of how Jamaican food is much more than jerk chicken, curried goat and ackee (although I like those too). I used to date a woman from Jamaica, and, after enjoying a certain herb grown in the region, she’d get cravings for Jamaican…
Creamed Watercress
Creamed watercress is a great play on a steakhouse classic you should try if you like watercress, or, if you have access to watercress, but prefer it cooked as opposed to raw. I got hired to cook a dinner this past December: an all-Americana menu filled with things like crab cakes, beef tenderloin and artichoke…
Wild Fennel Cakes
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…
The Original Borscht
Ukraine has been on everyone’s mind lately, so I thought it would be appropriate to dive into their national dish: Borscht (or maybe it’s Borshch?). As random as it might sound, borscht is something I’ve read about a fair amount about, as the famous tart stew of beets (and all its variations) are inextricably connected…
