From the Spring Foraging Cookbook: Wintergreen, Wisteria and Yucca

Wintergreen

Wintergreen isn’t really a spring plant.  The berries stay on most all year and can be one for the few edible berries available in winter.  They are small, but tasty.  I have never really found them in abundance enough to cook them into a dessert.  Up north, folks can collect enough to make pies.  For me, they are just an occasional snack.  They are tasty, but a bit dry.  The leaves were once used as the wintergreen flavor in chewing gum, etc, and used medicinally.  Birch twigs were later found to be more abundant and easier to harvest.  Birch is similar both in flavor and medicinally.  The leaves make a very nice tea, but I am not really a tea drinker.  In the spring, when the leaves are tender, they can be snacked on, as well.





Wisteria

Some people enjoy dipping clusters of Wisteria flowers in batter and frying them as you would Elder or  Black Locust flowers.  Unfortunately, I cannot enjoy this plant as I am extremely allergic to it… which is a shame, because it smells fantastic.  Other parts of Wisteria are toxic, so use with care.





Yucca

Yucca is one of the most useful plants for making cordage, baskets, etc.  And, it is also edible.  That said, it is not my favorite.  The flowers and flower buds are the parts most often eaten.   The fruits or seed pods are said to be edible when small and tender, and even the flowering stalk when still pinkish and tender.  My issue with yucca is that it tastes soapy.  It isn’t bad, it just isn’t very good.  I view yucca more as a survival food.  Occasionally, I will toss a few flowers into a salad just for nutritional value and because they are a pretty, white color.  But, the texture is waxy.  The buds are better cooked using the steam/saute method.    One thing that is important to point out is that the “yuca root” used in South American cooking and occasionally seen in American grocery stores is a different plant – notice the slightly different spelling.  This delicious member of the cassava family is cooked like potato and is one of my absolute favorite fried vegetables.  Some good, grilled meat with chimichuri and fried yuca is not to be missed!  I can’t say the same about our Yucca, but if I ever find a really good recipe for this plant, I will update this book and post it on my website.





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