Hello food & foraging friends!

It’s September, and that means the emergence of many delectable treats around us, from pawpaws, the nation’s largest native tree fruit, to honey mushrooms, the largest organism ON EARTH! I’ve also been snacking on roast gingko nuts and lambsquarter prepared six ways to Sunday – both things you can find prolifically in the heart of the city.

I’ve just returned from an incredible weekend event in Western Pennsylvania with MAW DC, where we collectively found and identified 231 species, sent 20 mystery specimens off for DNA sequencing, and tasted 8 species, including chicken of the woods, winter chanterelles and resinous polypore. That’s in addition to picking wild cranberries from a bog filled with carnivorous plants that evolved to eat bugs as dietary supplements. Other fun(gi) stuff included watching two types of bioluminescent mushrooms (panellus and Omphalotus olearius) glow in the dark.

I can’t recommend joining MAW enough if you are at all interested in the natural world. Over Labor Day, we had the opportunity to learn about truffles and hunt for them in the area with visiting West Coast expert Mike Castellano, whose presentation to our club you can find here. Spoiler alert: they are everywhere, including probably your grocery store parking lot, but none of the truffles that fetch six figures at an auction.

In my last edition I promised deets on a foraged food and cider tour and tasting I’m collaborating with ANXO cidery on, and it’s here! Check out the listing and spread the word to anyone interested in foraging, cidermaking or DC history!

Until then, for some inspo on cooking with wild mushrooms, check out my column this month in Natural Awakenings, featuring tips from chefs like Alan Bergo, author of the just-out Forager Chef’s Book of Flora, which is IMHO an instant classic in the genre of wild foods.

Whatcha cooking up from your neck of the woods? Would love to hear from you!

Wildly yours,

April
Web: aprilwrites.com