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

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Hunt For The Hopniss

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hopniss

This past week I got to hunt something that’s eluded me: the groundnut/hopniss. I read about them for the first time in Sam Thayer’s book the Forager’s Harvest. In the book, Thayer shows a tuber that can be dug when you find clusters of the vines. Compared to hunting something above ground like a mushroom though, finding things beneath the soil seemed impossible to me-I had pretty much given up.

Lucky for me I have friends. My buddy Dan Farmer is one of the most inquisitive guys I know, he loves to research things, learn, and teach himself just like I do. Dan’s retired, so he has a little more time to search for things than me; it ends up being a great way for me to live vicariously through another hunter. Even though it can be hard to connect and go out together with my restaurant schedule, we’ll shoot each other pictures and share what we’ve been seeing off and on.

As luck would have it, Dan located some groundnuts around the Twin Cities before me. He was nice enough to invite me to get together and dig some before the snow fell this year.

hopniss

Dan digging our first hopniss

After a morning spent digging them I learned quite a bit. Even though I’ve scoured Thayer’s book, I had been looking for a sort of tree or small shrub, (for reasons I don’t know) hopniss are more like a bean though. The little tubers in the pictures grow along a vine underground, which is eventually connected to an above ground vine that grows by hanging onto other plants. Where we were digging it seemed to be climbing up the other plants in order to steal sunlight and get a leg up. I should mention too that the hopniss were growing in a very moist area with loose soil-not exactly a place I would be hunting mushrooms in, which could explain why I had never come across them before.

hopniss

The hopniss vine

It took us a while to get the hang of digging the suckers, but after a while it got easier. We would find a big vine and follow it down to where it enters the soil. From there all we had to do was feel around with a gloved hand (definitely recommend the gloves) and unearth the little tubers gently, one by one. Be it known that if you try to yank them out you’ll break the vine, lose sight of where they are, and get pissed.

hopniss

Small hopniss should grow larger if you leave them.

We ended up with a nice little basket of hopniss for our efforts-plenty to play with in the kitchen and experiment. Preparing them for cooking was a bit of a chore, but nothing worse than peeling some chestnuts. Looking at the little tubers, you can see there are a couple of different ways they could be approached. I knew to separate them from the connective vine for cooking, but after that, first and foremost was the question if they should be peeled or not.

hopniss

Hopniss, washed and trimmed of the connective vine.

I did a little taste test, cooking a few peeled and unpeeled, and found that I definitely prefer the texture and flavor of skinless, cooked hopniss. So what about the tubers that are too small to peel? Since they take 2 years or so to grow, I think it’s probably best to only harvest hopniss that are big enough to peel, say the size of an egg or golf ball. If you leave them in the ground they should continue to grow, as Hank Shaw states in his excellent post on hopniss here (There are some cool recipe ideas in there too).

Bug damage.

Bug damage.

While I was peeling and cleaning, I noticed that there seemed to be some damage from some sort of creature eating or burrowing in them. Of all that we picked, I’d say about 20% were damaged or otherwise unusable for cooking “as is”.

Besides critter damage, there seemed to be a stringy quality with some of the tubers similar to what I see with root vegetables that are allowed to grow to long: they were stringy. Some of the hopniss even turned black after they were cooked, or showed a mottled pattern in their flesh. Needless to say those that didn’t cook up creamy white didn’t taste as good, so I’d avoid them.

hopniss

Some hopniss cooked up black and stringy, even without bug damage.

Of course I had to come up with a fun hopniss recipe to share. It’s great, although I discovered a bit of a curveball at the end. I wanted to keep it simple, so I employed a basic technique I use to cook root vegetables, here’s the jist: You cook the roots in some stock or water with a bit of salt until they’re tender, then add a little butter to their liquid that has reduced which thickens it a bit. What you end up with is a vegetable that’s glazed in it’s own, juice, it’s essence. Obviously you don’t have to use hopniss, but it’s a fine way to cook them if you can find some.

So what was the curveball? Well the first time I cooked the hopniss I did it in a small stainless steel saute pan, and everything was perfect. The second time I prepared the recipe I used a little cast iron pan. What seems to have happened is that the groundnuts reacted with the iron and turned pink. I laughed about it, then slapped myself. “D’oh!”.  Without further ado, here’s you pink, glazed hopniss.

hopniss

hopniss
Print Recipe
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Glazed Hopniss

Serves 4 as a side
Prep Time30 mins
Cook Time20 mins
Course: Appetizer, Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Groundnut, Hopniss, Tubers
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 12 ounces fresh peeled hopniss, cut into equal sized pieces
  • 1.5 cups chicken or vegetable stock you could use water in a pinch
  • Kosher salt plus black pepper to taste
  • 2 Tbsp mixed fresh soft herbs like parsley, thyme, chives, dill, chervil, etc-your choice
  • 1 tbsp unsalted butter

Instructions

  • Put the hopniss, stock and salt in a high sided saute pan.
  • Bring the mixture to a boil, then turn down the heat to a simmer until the liquid is reduced by 3/4 and the hopniss is tender, about 10 minutes.
  • Turn up the heat to medium high, then add the butter and swirl it into the pan, continue swirling and reducing the liquid gradually until the liquid emulsifies and thickens a bit.
  • Double check the seasoning for salt and pepper, add the herbs, stir and serve immediately.

Related

Previous Post: « Peas With Porcini, Proscuitto, And Radish Snaps
Next Post: Mangalitsa Pork Chops With Chanterelle-Skyr Sauce »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Dan Farmer

    September 15, 2014 at 7:06 pm

    Still digging dirt out from my fingernails.

    About all I can say is that I sure am glad I don’t depend on harvesting hopniss for survival!

    Reply
  2. John

    March 24, 2020 at 5:40 pm

    Thanks for doing some footwork for us!

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      March 25, 2020 at 5:02 pm

      Thank John, I just hoping I can find some private land to get a few more, they’re not easy to find for me.

      Reply
  3. Cristie

    August 21, 2020 at 2:20 pm

    Thanks for this! I started growing groundnuts in my permaculture garden 2 years ago, so this year I’m going to be able to harvest some. It’s great to have a recipe to start from – makes me a little more confident in getting the hang of using this new ingredient.

    Reply
  4. Compost happens

    July 3, 2021 at 4:59 pm

    I found Apios americana growing in my yard a couple of years ago. It started to get out of hand this year so I cut it back and pulled out a few of the tubers, gonna try them in a moment…I am sure there are others in case anybody wants them, I am in Hudson Valley, NYS.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Saguaro Opens, a Tiny Diner Visit and More - The Heavy TableThe Heavy Table – Minneapolis-St. Paul and Upper Midwest Food Magazine says:
    September 22, 2014 at 5:15 am

    […] The Well Fed Guide to Life heads out to Tiny Diner (pictured; here’s our recent visit.) A search for local hopniss (foraged groundnuts). A quick sketch from Heartland in St. Paul. Dining at a table set for 2,000. […]

    Reply
  2. Ground nuts (apios americana) – DeadLettuceFiles says:
    April 23, 2019 at 1:54 pm

    […] https://foragerchef.com/hunt-for-the-hopniss/ […]

    Reply

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Alan Bergo
Milkweed buds are the second-best edible part of t Milkweed buds are the second-best edible part of the plant, besides the pods in my opinion. They need to be cooked to be edible. 

I only pick from common milkweed in areas where there’s very large colonies. 

I leave some buds to flower on each plant, I also avoid any tops that have insects or monarch caterpillars. Plenty of food to go around. 

#milkweedisafoodplant #foraging #milkweedbuds #asclepiassyriaca
HALP! I’ve been keeping an eye on two loaded mul HALP! I’ve been keeping an eye on two loaded mulberry trees and both got a bunch of fruit knocked down by the storms and wind. 

If anyone in West WI or around the Twin Cities knows of some trees, (ideally on private property but beggars can’t be choosers) that I could climb and shake with a tarp underneath, shoot me a DM and let’s pick some! 🤙😄

TIA

#throwadogabone #mansquirrel #beattlefruit #mulberries #shakintrees
Lampascioni, or edible hyacinth bulbs are one of t Lampascioni, or edible hyacinth bulbs are one of the more interesting things I’ve eaten. 

These are an ancient wild food traditionally harvested in Southern Italy, especially in Puglia and the Salentine Peninsula, as well as Greece and Crete. I’ve seen at least 6-7 different names for them. 

A couple different species are eaten, but Leopoldia comosa is probably the one I see mentioned the most. They also grow wild in North America. 

The bulbs are toxic raw, but edible after an extended boil. Traditionally they’re preserved in vinegar and oil, pickled, or preserves in other methods using acid and served as antipasti. (Two versions in pic 3). 

They’re one of the most heavily documented traditional wild foods I’ve seen. There’s a few shots of book excerpts here.

The Oxford companion to Italian Food says you can eat them raw-don’t do that. 

Even after pickling, the bulbs are aggressively extremely bitter. Definitely an acquired taste, but one that’s grown on me. 

#traditionalfoods #vampagioli #lampascione #cucinapovera #lampascioni #leopoldiacomosa #foraging
Went to some new spots yesterday looking for poke Went to some new spots yesterday looking for poke sallet and didn’t do too well (I’m at the tip of its range). I did see some feral horseradish though which I don’t see very often. 

Just like wild parsnip, this is the exact same plant you see in the store and garden-just escaped. 

During the growing season the leaves can be good when young. 

They have an aggressive taste bitter enough to scare your loved ones. Excellent in a blend of greens cooked until extra soft, preferably with bacon or similar. 

For reference, you don’t harvest the root while the plant is growing as they’ll be soft and unappealing-do that in the spring or fall. This is essentially the same as when people tell you to harvest in months that have an R in them. 

#amoraciarusticana #foraging #horseradishleaves #horseradish #bittergreens
In Italy chicken of the woods is known as “fungo In Italy chicken of the woods is known as “fungo del carrubo” (carob tree mushroom) as it’s one of the common tree hosts there. 

My favorite, and really the only traditional recipe I’ve found for them so far is simmered in a spicy tomato sauce with hot chile and capers, served with grilled bread. 

Here I add herbs too: fresh leaves of bee balm that are perfect for harvesting right now and have a flavor similar to oregano and thyme. 

Makes a really good side dish or app, especially if you shower it with a handful of pecorino before scooping it up with the bread. 

#chickenofthewoods #fungodelcarrubo #allthemushroomtags #traditionalfoods #beebalm
First of the year 😁. White-pored chicken of t First of the year 😁. 

White-pored chicken of the woods (Laetiporus cincinnatus) are my favorite chicken. 

Superior bug resistance, slightly better flavor + texture. They also stay tender longer compared to their more common yellow-pored cousins. Not a single bug in this guy. 

#treemeat #ifoundfood #foraging #laetiporuscincinnatus #chickenofthewoods
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