LOVE & EAT THE FOREST NOW!

Forests can keep you very well fed. We’ve gathered some beautiful ideas and recipes that tap into forest trees, including spruce, pine, juniper, and birch, as well as a few special fungi.

Prune and gather lightly, taking no more than a fifth of a given plant to insure the health and survival of the species.

SCARLET ELF CUP

Scarlet Elf Cup (Sarcoscypha coccinea) is a vivid scarlet-colored fungus that grows during the cooler months of winter and early spring in temperate forests.

Young Scarlet Elf Cups are delicious in the raw. Monica Wilde, of Wilde in the Woods, suggests enjoying them sandwiched between wild garlic leaves, lightly sauteed in butter, or to add colorful interest and mild mushroomy flavor to risottos.

BIRCH

Birch trees are delicious! From their branches to their sap, check out their sweet glory.

BIRCH BRANCHES -- BLACK BIRCH TEA

Black Birch (or sweet birch) trees can be found in forests from Maine to Georgia. American Indians brewed tea from the branches, both for refreshment and medicinal uses. Smooth bark and distinctive horizontal pores make the Black Birch easy to identify.

Jodi, of Homemade and Wholesome, tells us how to easily make Black Birch Tea by simply steeping twigs in boiling water. Delicious hot or iced, get the recipe here.

BIRCH SAP

Birch sap can be turned into beer, wine, vinegar, and syrup.

Jonathan Hamnett, of Grunewald Foraging, has some very detailed instructions and tips so you can tap your own birch sap, if you are so moved. Check them out here.

Fergus, of Fergus the Forager, also has some excellent insights and advice about tapping and cooking with birch sap. He boils 95 litres of sap to produce 5 liters of birch syrup.

BIRCH SYRUP

Birch syrup is richer, deeper, and earthier than maple syrup. It’s reminiscent of molasses. Make your own or try the Birch Syrup from Kahiltna Birchworks, where you can find lots of other birch goodies and some more lovely birch recipes.

Patty Woodland, of Broken Teepee, rocked it in a lovely mellow pork and apple dish, embellished with some Jack Daniels and rosemary. Her birch glazed salmon is amazing. Check out the details here.

ICELANDIC BIRCH COCKTAIL WITH BLOOD ORANGE

Birkir, a forest-focused schnaps, and Björk, a foresty liqueur, both from Foss Distillery, are delicious Icelandic spirits made with birch sap.

Check out the woodsy, earth, citrus-tinged flavors of this Icelandic Birch Cocktail with Blood Orange, by Katrín Björk, of Modern Wifestyle. Find her recipe here. And find more by following her Instagram.

JUNIPER

Juniper are beautiful forest evergreen trees that yield the aromatic berries that flavor gin. They are also perfect compliments to game and seafood.

TROUT SASHIMI WITH JUNIPER BERRIES & VODKA

Tina Nordström, of New Scandinavian Cooking, delights us with a bracing flavor trio, paring super-fresh trout sashimi with juniper scented vodka. Check out the simple, yet genius, recipe here.

SPRUCE

Young spruce needles lend an aromatic green note that has become popular in Scandinavian gastronomic circles.

SPRUCE TIPS JELLY

Tender tips of spruce trees offer a surprisingly citrus note to the foresty green flavors of this jelly. It’s lovely to slather over a toasted rye bagel atop a general schmear of cream cheese, in particular. We like this version by Wendy Petty, of Hunger and Thirst.

We also like this Spruce Shoot Jam recipe by Ciaran Burke, of Blooms and Food. Apples round out the green foresty flavors, yielding a caramel mellowness.

Check out the recipe here.

SPRUCE CORNMEAL CAKE WITH TANGERINE GOAT CHEESE FROSTING

This Spruce Cornmeal Cake with Tangerine Goat Cheese Frosting, by Wendy Petty, of Hunger and Thirst For Life, is a brilliant play of compliments: pungent forest, zesty citrus, earthy cornmeal, and creamy tangy chevre.

It is one of the most creative recipes we’ve found for forest ingredients, conjured, together with Bek, of Cauldrons and Crockpots, as part of the Wild Things Round Up Cauldrons and Crockpots. Check out the recipe here.

PINE

All species of pine have edible seeds, we know as pine nuts, piñon, or pignoli, which can be eaten raw or toasted. Young male pine cones can be boiled or baked. The inner bark of pine saplings can be chewed for their faint sweetness.

The piñon nut helped to feed generations of the Ute and Paiute Indian Tribes in the Southwestern region of the United States. It has a wild nutty flavor and creamy texture.

FOREST PINE NUT COOKIES

Ilona Oppenheim, of Savor the Mountains, takes her family on foraging food adventures through the forests near her home. 

When they hit upon a beautiful crop of pine nuts, they harvest them for Oppenheim’s fabulous Forest Pine Nut Cookies. Get her recipe here. And, if you haven’t foraged your own, you can order wild-harvested pine nuts online at the Pine Nut.

PINE NEEDLE TEA

When Native Americans and early European settlers roamed the forests of North America, they enjoyed pine needle tea, not just for its pleasant resinous flavor and aroma, but for its high vitamin C content (up to five times as much as a lemon).

Ilona Oppenheim, of Savor the Mountains, advises us to pick the young needles, with slightly greener tips for the freshest taste and most potent nutrients.

Read more about Beautiful Forests, as it relates to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact including Explore the Beauty of Forests in 10 Gorgeous New Books Now and Mysterious Basque Forest are so Beautiful, Now.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: by Fergus, of Fergus the Forager. Scarlet Elf Cup fungi in a birch bark basket.
2. Image: by Monica Wilde, of Wilde in the Woods. Scarlet Elf Cups.
3. Image: by Zoltán Vörös. The thick of the forest.
4. Image: by Jodi, of Homemade and Wholesome. Black Birch Tea.
5. Image: by Jonathan Hamnett, of Grunewald Foraging. Ash-wood Tap. Tapping birch sap.
6. Image: by Patty Woodland, of Broken Teepee. Alaska Birch Syrup.
7. Image: by Katrín Björk, of Modern Wifestyle. Icelandic Birch Cocktail.
8. Image: Courtesy of New Hampshire Garden Solutions. Juniper Berries.
9. Image: by Tina Nordström, of New Scandinavian Cooking. Trout Sashimi with Vikingfjord Vodka.
10. Image: Courtesy of Sitka National Historical Park. Sitka Spruce Tips.
11. Image: by Wendy Petty, of Hunger and Thirst For Life. Spruce Jelly.
12. Image: by Ciaran Burke, of Blooms and Food. New Spruce Shoots.
13. Image: by Wendy Petty, of Hunger and Thirst For Life. Spruce Cornmeal Cake with Tangerine Goat Cheese Frosting.
14. Image: Courtesy of May Lee’s Art. Pine cones of Pinyon Pine.
15. Image: Courtesy of Pine Nut. Pine nut.
16. Image: by Ilona Oppenheim, of Savor the Mountains. Forest Pine Nut Cookies.
17. Image: by Ilona Oppenheim, of Savor the Mountains. Forest Pine Nut Cookies.
18. Image: by Ilona Oppenheim, of Savor the Mountains. Pine Needle Tea.
19. Image: Courtesy of Wikivisual. Pine Needle Tea.
20. Image: by Andrey Belenko. Pine Forest.
21. Image: by BN App - Download now!
22. Image: Courtesy of Kes Wildlife. Birch Polypore.