Ugly Little Greens: Gourmet Dishes Crafted from Foraged Ingredients

Self-trained Los Angeles–area chef Wasilevich gathers her recipes for common edible plants found in backyards as well as further afield. Wasilevich suggests that her book, rather than being an encyclopedic reference, is “for someone who’s done some study and research” on the subject already. Descriptions and directions are cursory, with the occasional eye-opener, such as the warning “extremely toxic, can cause death” about a to-be-avoided doppelgänger for (safe) chickweed. Other plants Wasilevich discusses include stinging nettle, likely familiar to even beginning foragers. Recipes, organized according to the wild plant called for, range from a simple elderflower-infused butter, to a curious bread inspired by Japanese shoku-pan with puree of wild-lamb quarters flavoring the marbled dough, to the more-appealing “moccolini,” where mustard buds stand in for larger-gauge, cultivated brassicas. Harvesting and cooking with possibly poisonous plants is a hairy proposition, to be sure—and, indeed, Wasilevich herself was educated in the old-fashioned oral tradition and suggests that “an actual person teaching you is the best source.” A mere reader, then, should proceed with caution. (May)