I was just watching a cooking show where the chef (Michael Symon) was making a chicken dish with wild mushrooms and wild shallots. I thought this was quite different because I don't use anything wild at all. I'd honestly be scared of getting something bad and not being able to tell the difference. But anyway back to my question...is there anyone here who eats fruits or vegetables they harvest from the wild?
In my opinion, those "wild" shallots and mushrooms were not probably really from the wild. I think the television cooking shows try to hype up the ingredients sometimes. They don't want to say for us to add in the shallots and mushrooms we just bought at Cosco or Aldis. Please! For them, "wild" probably meant they were from someone's garden. Just my personal opinion.
I'm sure there are places where you can find those vegetables, mushrooms or fruits just growing in the wild. If it grows in a garden then it's not wild. I've lived in a place where the land we lived on was right next to a forest. Not many dangerous animals lived near our spot so we [I was a kid then] would be allowed to go exploring. We'd at times find wild mushrooms. It was easy to tell which of them were edible and which ones were poisonous. I guess you pick up some of these things if you live in such a place. Where I live now, you can't find any wild vegetables or mushrooms. Fruits maybe.
I would be worried about getting something bad as well and not knowing the difference either. Though it would be tempting to just walk outside and pluck what looked good to save some money at the grocery store. I would also be concerned about wild animals peeing on it or something and having dried. You can wash it but still, the thought just kind of grosses me out.
I live in the city so never. I would love to try though. most oft the time I just go to the public market and buy what i need some of the vendors tell me to buy the local garlic and unions for its much better than the ones which are genetically altered. the local ones which are planted by local farmers i think can be considered wild.
I also have lived in the city all my life although I know I have seen the bad mushrooms, every once in a while we till see a large thing that looks like a mushroom pop up in the yard and know not to eat it. I would not feel comfortable eating food I picked and did not not know what it was. There is a tree in my area that has black berries on it but I don't know if the berries are safe so I never attempt to try them.
There is actually a great book that helps you differentiate between the things you can and cannot eat in the wild. It's called 'The Essential Wild Food Survival Guide'. Really great guide. Fun to take with on hikes.
