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

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Pickled Angelica

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Pickled angelica stem recipePickled, tender Angelica stems are a good introduction to working with the plant, and I’m surprised I didn’t try it sooner after all the years I’ve worked with it.

Angelica (my local species should be A. atropurpurea) is fascinating, and delicious in the right place, but was

Wild edible Angelica atropurpurea

Angelica at the perfect stage to harvest–young and tender.

frustrating as it doesn’t obey some of the culinary logic I generally hold as true. The flavor of the stems raw is intensely perfumed—way too strong to be pleasant for most people unless something’s done with them first, like fermenting them in cream like I do here. Confusingly, if you cook the same stems, or pair them with other powerfully flavored ingredients, you might not even taste it at all, a good example being if you tossed them into my rhubarb-angelica crisp without allowing the ingredients to sit together and marry overnight so the rhubarb mix can absorb the aroma of the raw angelica, similar to how truffles are used.

Candying the stalks, which is probably the most common thing to do, is fine, and a great garnish for cakes, along with the perfumed syrup it makes as a byproduct, but sometimes I don’t want things candied, or I might want a way to preserve something that isn’t ultra sweet, which is where pickling them can come in handy.
Let me preface by saying this isn’t a pickle like most people are used to, there’s salt in it, sure, but moreso it’s a sweet pickle. Sweet pickles like this (the same proportions are great with other fruits, cherries being a good example) are a good way to preserve something that you light otherwise preserve in syrup.
Pickled angelica stem recipe

The stems turn a subtle green against the deep pink of the liquid. I love the shape of the stems cut on the bias.

The Angelica takes really well to it, and keeps a good amount of its natural perfume, but not too much—just enough to be interesting. The only real thing to know is that you can’t just pour hot liquid over it and call it a day. The stems are chewy, and even very young, you’ll want to simmer them until they’re tender in the liquid.

After that, you can use them after just a few days once the aromas settle down. The vinegar-sugar combo here is one I love since it makes the finished product so versatile. Where candied angelica is firmly rooted in the sweet world, picked Angelica could be savory or sweet. Here’s a few ideas:

How to use

  • Serve with soft goat cheese, made spreadable by loosening with cream.
  • With a salad of fruit, especially with things like baked rhubarb, peaches or cooked apples, preferably with some goat or sheep cheese, or whipped cream.
  • Imagine it as a garnish for roasted duck or game,
  • The herbaceous flavor likes fat. Cream and dairy, especially creme fraiche are good, but also things like oil, or fatty meats, especially duck.
  • Toss them in a salad as a punchy garnish, especially one with red fruits or buttery nuts like hazelnuts.
  • After pickling, the stems could make a great addition to sweet fruit chutneys, with a good splash of the liquid added.

Safety note

I taught myself to identify angelica years before I’d seen my first hemlock, waiting until the plants made flowers to harvest, since it’s simple to differentiate the two when the flowers are showing. Unfortunately, the stage when you want the tender stems to do something like this is probably the stage most amateurs could confuse the two plants. make sure you’re 100% on your ID of angelica before you attempt something like this, but don’t let it scare you.

Pickled angelica stem recipe
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Sweet Pickled Angelica Stems

Tender angelica stems simmered with spices, sugar and vinegar. Yield: 1 qt jar.
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time20 mins
Course: Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Angelica, Pickles
Servings: 10

Ingredients

  • 12 oz tender angelica stems leaves discarded
  • 1.5 cups water
  • 2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
  • 1 Cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1 Tablespoon pickling spice

Instructions

  • Toast the pickling spices and mix with the water, vinegar, salt and sugar.
  • Bring the mixture to a boil.
  • Meanwhile, cut the angelica into ¼ inch slices, add to the pickle liquid and cook until tender, about 5-10 minutes.
  • Can in a water bath, or cool, pour into a jar and refrigerate. The angelica will last for months and will mellow a bit as it sits.
Pickled angelica stem recipe

Related

Previous Post: « How to Cook Angelica Blossoms (Zavirne)
Next Post: Burdock Stalks and Carrot Saute »

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Comments

  1. Maria

    October 9, 2021 at 2:37 am

    Thanks for this great information. I have a beautiful Angelica plant and only used the seeds for tea. Now I now there is much more to it.

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FORAGER | CHEF®
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Author: The Forager Chef’s Book of Flora
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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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