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

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Marinated Hosta Shoots

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Marinated hosta shoots salad

Marinated, seared hostas with soy, maple, garlic and hot chili can be served warm or cold.

It’s hosta shoot season, and marinated hosta shoots make a great spring appetizer or side dish to help you enjoy your edimentals (edible ornamentals). 

Here’s the jist: go get the plumpest, fattest hosta shoots you can find, get a pan or grill really, really hot, char them on one side only, add a splash of soy, then remove them to a dish, drizzle over a tasty oil-based marinade of garlic, ginger, chili and your favorite oil and let it sit for at least thirty minutes.

Seared edible hosta shoots

If you want you can cut the ends clean after cooking for a slick presentation. Make sure that the hosta tips all point in the same direction.

As the mixture sits, you spoon the juice that forms over the hostas here and there, napping them with the juices. Just before serving you add some lemon juice to taste, move the hostas to a plate, spoon the goodness on top, sprinkle with a few crushed nuts and herbs, and eat.

Marinated hosta shoots salad

The orange in the oil is from using acorn oil from Foragers Harvest.

Sounds pretty good, right? You can switch up the herbs however you like, or skip them, but keep the dressing as is, at least the first time you make it. 

Marinated hosta shoots salad
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Marinated Hosta Shoots

Seared hosta shoots marinated with soy, hot chilies, garlic and ginger, finished with fresh herbs, and toasted nuts make for a great spring appetizer or salad.
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time5 mins
Marinating time30 mins
Course: Appetizer, Salad
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Hosta shoots, Hostas
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 8 oz hosta shoots
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce or equivalent
  • 1 tablespoon or more toasted nuts or seeds of your choice
  • Pinch of hot chili
  • 2 tablespoons cooking oil for searing
  • Fresh lemon juice to taste
  • 2 tablespoons flavorful nut oil like toasted sesame, acorn, walnut, etc
  • 1 teaspoon maple syrup or equivalent
  • 1 small clove garlic grated
  • A few gratings of fresh ginger
  • Serving
  • Fresh herbs like cilantro Italian parsley, mint, chives, tarragon, or a combination, coarsely chopped

Instructions

  • Combine the maple, garlic, ginger and chili.
  • Sear the hosta shoots on medium-high heat until deeply browned on one side, then flip and brown on the other side.
  • Add the soy, toss for a second or two to evaporate it and coat the hostas, then remove to a shallow dish like a pie plate to cool.
  • The shoots should still be a bit crunchy. Try your best to undercook them.
  • Drizzle the shoots with the oil mixture and and allow to sit for at least 30 minutes up to an hour, gently spooning the dressing that forms over them occasionally.
  • To serve the shoots, lay the shoots out on a plate with the tops facing in the same direction.
  • Season the juice left in the bowl with a dash of lemon juice to taste, then spoon over the shoots. Garnish with the nuts and other herbs if using and serve.

More 

Cooking with Hosta Shoots 

Edible hosta shoots

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FORAGER | CHEF®
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Author: The Forager Chef’s Book of Flora
James Beard Award ‘22
Host: Field Forest Feast 👇
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Alan Bergo
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
TBT brisket face 💦. Staff meal with @jesseroes TBT brisket face 💦. Staff meal with 
@jesseroesler and crew @campwandawega
📸 @misterberndt 

#staffmeal #brisket #meatsweats #naptime
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