Wild plants regain their aura

Wild garlic, ground ivy, nettle, black elderberry, there are more than 1000 edible wild plants. You can cook them, place them raw on the plate, make juices. They offer a wide range of new flavors, textures or nutrients. Christophe de Hody, botanist and mycologist, accompanies in learning to pick.

“You have to know how to choose leaves, fruits or flowers, herbaceous or aromatic plants, wild plants which often have very strong and very original tastes.”

Christopher de Hody

at franceinfo

There is therefore a very interesting panel for those who know how to understand wild plants. Their use in the kitchen dates back to the dawn of time, but it was lost after the Middle Ages, when exotic products seemed more luxurious. The return to nature and proximity now puts wild plants at the center of the culinary approach of many chefs.

Train before picking

That of Villa Pinewood, a starred restaurant in the Tarn, for example, has chosen to remove spices and replace them with wild plants. Thomas Cabrol explains: “Zero spices! Except salt. Even for sugar, we no longer use sucrose, but carrot or fennel root to make syrups in desserts. There are also plants that bring length in blocked.”

To start picking wild plants, you have to train with a specialist in order to be 100% sure of the leaf, root or flower that you are about to consume.