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Growing up on a farm in France, Hooker and her family would forage for wild herbs and plants..
The tradition and knowledge stuck with her as she moved from France to Chicago to New York to Minnesota as a chef, author and culinary teacher.
“We are trained in Europe to live with the season,” Hooker said from her Victory, Wis., home. “Food didn’t travel like it does today with technology. We’ve learned later it’s more bad than good, and a lot of chefs are looking closer to home for foods because of health and ecological reasons.”
Hooker will bring her adventurous style and passion to the table Saturday at the Houston Nature Center for a workshop on identifying and cooking wild edible foods.
Since foraging is “really a spur of the moment thing” that depends on the weather, Hooker said the ingredients depend on what’s available. Nettles, Queen Anne’s lace, dandelions and cattails may be on the menu.
Many wild plants and herbs are tasty delicacies rich in vitamins. It’s just a matter of identifying them, Hooker said.
Her caveats: “When in doubt, leave it out,” she says; and avoid roadsides, which are often tainted with fertilizers and other chemicals.
As for what’s edible: “Watch the bears and watch the birds. Most of things they eat you can too,” she said.
Animals are also competition for the berries in the summer and nuts in the fall, so foragers should keep their eyes open for blooms and mark their calendars, Hooker said.
“If you do it once in a while, you’re not going to get into it,” Hooker said. “You build up a wonderful schedule and you say look at that wonderful dandelion, look at that beautiful Queen Anne’s lace, that would be wonderful to decorate that salmon plate.”
Each season brings a new crop and a new taste — berries first, nuts and roots last. Everything’s tender and sweeter in the spring because it just came out of the ground. In the summer, plants get stronger and will have a different, vibrant flavor.
Hooker may like dandelions and nettles in her soup, but she said wild plants and herbs offer variety and complementary flavors to a common dish.
She boasts that she can get kids to eat anything by the time she’s done with them. “It’s like broccoli, when you ate it for the first time you said, ‘What’s that?’ It’s just part of the experience.”
Reporter Amber Dulek can be reached at (507) 453-3513 or amber.dulek@lee.net.
