Wild Foods Day

The brothers in Ray Bradbury's "Dandelion Wine" collect flowers for their grandfather to make a sweet, brightly colored drink reminiscent of summer People use berries, leaves, roots and stems of wild herbs and shrubs for food not only in literary works of the fantasy genre The ancestors of the Eastern Slavs prepared dishes from horsetail, sorrel, rapeseed, oak and rowan fruits, hare sour and nuts Nettles were used to make salads and suritsa, a honey-based drink that tasted like kvass Before the beginning of farming, ancient man practiced gathering Today, this tradition is continued by representatives of wild tribes living in the Amazon jungle and in South Africa Thus, among the Bushmen, up to 80% of the food consumed is of plant origin However, the men of the tribe still go hunting, like their ancestors hundreds and thousands of years ago At this time, women collect and prepare dishes from wild mongongo tree nuts, seeds, roots, leaves, stems, berries and fruits Man cultivated rice and purslane, cucumbers and eggplants, cauliflower and tomatoes, asparagus, grapes, strawberries and other berries Today, extracts are made from the petals of the once wild rose to obtain essential oil, jelly and jam are made, and violets are used to make jams, sweets and drinks However, many edible plants can still only be found in the wild The holiday is dedicated to finding and getting to know them, the first mentions of which in the media date back to the mid-1970s Since then, Wild Food Day has been celebrated every year For many Europeans, eating plants that are only found in the wild is not something surprising French cuisine is famous for its delights thanks to the preparation of dishes from acorns, chestnuts and truffles growing in oak and beech groves Residents of the Spanish region of Pilogna eat nasturtium flowers, other provinces eat wild plums and blackberries, radishes and mushrooms, and add fennel and laurel leaves to their dishes Italians boil and stew asparagus, bake “herbal” pies from dandelion, spinach, chicory, watercress, nettle, anise, poppy seeds, carrots and spinach, which are collected in meadows and fields According to one version, Wild Foods Day appeared thanks to Ewell Gibbons, the author of the book “In Search of the Wild Guard,” published in 1962 Thanks to this American writer and other nature lovers, Wild Food Days began to be held at different times throughout the year Today, according to the established in the 1990s traditions, the holiday is celebrated on the last Saturday and Sunday of October In honor of this event, excursions are held in nature reserves and national parks, the participants of which learn a lot about wild plants, collect them, and then prepare delicious and healthy dishes The celebration is often confused with the Wild Food Festival, an annual March celebration held in Hokitika, New Zealand Guests of the Hokitika Wildfoods Festival take part in a costume competition, get acquainted with the picturesque nature of the islands, try snails collected from the gardens of local residents, "mountain oysters", dishes from crocodiles and kangaroos, fritters from young fish, ice cream from wasp larvae, crispy tarantulas and other delights This exotic food is not included in the mandatory diet of New Zealanders, just like wild herbs, trees, shrubs and their fruits among residents of America and Europe However, this fact does not negate the taste and nutritional value of wild foods, which our ancestors knew well Wild Food Day encourages people to remember that people once lived in harmony with nature and took advantage of its generous gifts