When it comes to gathering wild food, I recommend starting slow. Choose one thing you're interested in, one thing that may be growing nearby that you've generally taken for granted-maybe it's nettles or acorns, or maybe you live near a prolific bay laurel tree dropping peppernuts every fall. Once you begin to notice and access the natural rhythms of this food you've chosen, learn everything about it-its growth cycles, what kind of soil it likes, how much water it needs, and so on. Then search for stories that feature your ingredient and Native artists and teachers in your area. Learn all the names of your ingredient in Indigenous languages. Discover how local Native people tend this ingredient, if they use fire or seed mounds or dip nets or specialized tools. Is this ingredient part of other foodways in other parts of the world? How are the preparations different or the same? Are there Native elders in your community that could benefit from your labor first? Once you have done all that and you have these well-earned ingredients, then it's time to use this book.
ChÃmi Nu'am: Native California Foodways For The Contemporary Kitchen, written by Sara Calvosa Olson
