As a forager and wild food advocate I met with a chef of a resturant in the Kreuzberg borough of Berlin. At the first meeting I had with the chef in late September she stated – sceptical to the idea that I wanted to deliver wild plants to them in autumn – “but the season is over!”

Thankfully, for anyone who desires to go foraging during autumn, autumn does not mean the end of “the season”. There are four seasons in which foraging is possible – yes even winter – and autumn is simply a season offering other edible plants or plant parts than those you can have during the other seasons. Since some, even chefs, think autumn is the end of “the season” this article aims to promote the wonders of autumn´s wild plant food chamber.

In the wild areas I am most familiar with – in Denmark and Northern Germany – autumn means fruits such as apples, pears and rose hips, berries such as sea buckthorn, herbs such as yarrow, dandelion, sorrel, plantain and chicory, also the roots of chicory and dandelion, and of the wild carrot, thistles and hops, it means nuts such as acorns, hazelnuts and walnuts, and it means a wealth of mushrooms, such as chanterelle, the field mushroom and porcini.

Fruits and berries: sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides)

Fruits and berries that can be found during the autumn in Brandenburg – the major federal state surrounding Berlin – include apples, pears, blackthorn, rose hips and sea buckthorn. Sea buckthorn is a quite popular berry at high end restaurants, and to anyone who likes their combined sweet and acidic taste. It is even cultivated in some places, such as in Werder, west of Berlin. To many people though, this is an unknown berry. Sea buckthorn thrives in sandy soils and in full exposure to the sun, near coasts, at abandoned urban areas and in gravel pits.

Wild sea buckthorn are used in many different ways: from soft drinks over flavoring in brownies, gels, jams and müsli´s (granola) to soups, sauces, vinegar and liquor. I generally find that people are intrigued, when I show them this orange berry growing from thorny branches with long, slender greyish green leaves, and either they react with a “yummy”, or their faces contract into folds when the acidic flavor reaches their tastebuds.

Here is a simple recipe for a topping that can be added on top of various dishes, such as the risotto described later in this article:

Sea buckthorn and rose hip topping

First, of course, you need to gather the rose hips, (from the dog rose or Rosa canina bush), and the sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides). I like the rose hips to be not too ripe, that is, still firm. They can still be sweet and tasty while firm. Do also taste the sea buckthorn before gathering it, to decide whether they are to your taste. In the kitchen, first cut the rose hips in half and scrape out the seeds with a tea spoon. Then cut the rose hips into small pieces. Let two spoonfuls of butter melt on the pan over medium heat. Add the rose hips to the pan and let them fry until the texture has softened, and then add the sea buckthorn, which just need to be heated for about two minutes. Spice up the red-orange, (or black-orange, if you use black rosehips) fruit-berry mixture with flavorings of your choice. I like to add some Worcestershire sauce, white wine, about a half teaspoon of sea salt or ramson salt and two teaspoons of coconut sugar. Add this topping to salads, risotto or other wholesome dishes.

Nuts: walnuts (juglans regia)

Walnuts can be found even in Berlin and in various places in Brandenburg. I have seen walnut trees in Werder and in Spreewald, for instance. As with the other wild foods, most of us are not looking for them, and therefore we don´t know they are there or how they look. Walnuts are found inside a green to dark-brown husk covering the shell by which we commonly recognize the walnut in the grocery store, wherefore the look of the nut in nature comes as a surprise to some.

Baking – from walnut bread to cakes, such as brownies – is a common way to use the walnut, richer than most other plant foods – along with flax seeds – in omega-3-fatty acids, and therefore one of the key sources of this nutrient for vegetarians and vegans. Here is a brownie recipe rich in nuts and added some spicy wild carrot seeds:

Walnut brownie with spicy carrot seeds

Set the oven at 160 degrees celsius and smear a baking tray with butter (about 20 x 20 cm). Mix 125 g of flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a bowl. Mix 100 g butter with 100 g sugar and 100 g nougat in another bowl. Add two eggs to this mix, one at a time. Open a vanilla fruit and scrape in the seeds. Then pour the flour and salt into the other bowl little by little. Chop 200 g of nuts of your choice: for instance a mix of almonds, some selenium rich Brazil nuts and walnuts. (Whereas wild walnuts can be found as far north as Germany, almonds are native to the Middle East and South Asia, and Brazil nuts to South America). Chop and add also 150 g dark cooking or white chocolate. Add the chopped goods to the mix in the bowl and pour the dough into the baking tray. The dough must be baked at 160 degrees in approximately 40 minutes. Take the brownie out of the oven after 30 minutes to add the carrots seeds and then put the tray back into the oven for the last ten minutes. Sea buckthorn can also be added to the dough.

Dig up the roots: The wild carrot (Daucus carota)

The most disbelieving reactions I get from people, when talking about foraging, are those I get, when I start talking about the wild carrot. But, there isn´t an actual carrot root there, is there? Yes, there is. But does it taste like carrot? Yes, but different parts of the plant taste differently. Does it look like the cultivated carrot? No, it is paler, more slender, usually shorter than the ones we know from the stores, and often has a number of offshoots. Even when holding the wild carrot in the hand, seeing it with their own eyes, people don´t really believe me. The reaction seems to be that that is just a random root. And don´t believe me, just smell! Inhale deeply. Do you believe me now?

Both the flowers, the seeds and the root are edible. The flowers can be eaten raw, when they bloom in the summer and have a distinct carrot taste. I find them very delicious and enjoy snacking on them, while foraging. The seeds are also really delicious and spicy. The roots should be dug up before or after flowering. They tend to be somewhat woody and must be either baked in the oven or cooked on the stove in long simmering dishes or used simply as a flavoring, for instance in a soup, without eating the root itself, like you would use laurel leaves.

Let´s go prepare a wild carrot and vegan version of the Vietnamese soup pho: Put on your jacket, find your trowel, (gardening shovel), and join me outside among the red, green, and yellow colors of autumn. Look, the carrot is right there at the roadside, from where, of course, we will not unearth it. Apart from next to roads, it also grows in areas characterized by previous human activities and then left untouched and taken over by the herbs which many people would simply identify as weeds, as well as with small plants and bushes. This is where we will go digging for the wild carrot.

Wild carrot soup

I love thai and vietnamese soups. I also eat mostly vegetarian dishes, striving towards vegan ones, and have been inspired by the traditional Vietnamese soup pho, given a vegan makeover and a twist of German wilderness, featuring the wild carrot:

Quarter an onion and slice an about 2 cm piece fresh ginger into coins. Add 2l of vegetable broth and 3/4l water to a large pot, together with the onion, ginger, a 1/4 teaspoon ramson salt, star anise, a cinnamon stick, 4 heads of wild carrot seeds and 3-4 wild carrot roots, and bring to a simmer. Cover and let simmer for 20-30 min. Add about 2 tablespoons soy sauce, or as you like. Then bring a big pot of water to a boil in which you cook 1 package rice noodle until al dente, then drain and rinse in cold water to stop the noodles cooking. When the broth and noodles are ready, add the noodles to bowls and together with toppings to your taste, for instance, fresh basil, cilantro, mint, green onions, mung bean sprouts, hot peppers, lime wedges, sautéed tofu and mushrooms, wild walnuts and some hot sauce.

Pluck those fungi goodies: Field mushroom (Agaricus Campestris)

After a wild carrot dinner in Weissensee, northeastern Berlin – with carrots baked in the oven, served with a vegan steak, an apple/Brazil nut salad with mint and a berry sauce – one of the participants suggested that with my knowledge of plants, in order to become an all-round forager, now I just needed to expand my knowledge into the realm of fungi, then I´d be all set. I think he said something like: “pluck those fungi goodies, wild boy. Pluck those fungi goodies right. Lay down the bagel and pluck those fungi goodies ´til you die” Or perhaps my mind is playing tricks with me here.

Anyway, this implies, that i´m not yet all set as an all-round forager. I have, however, been stalking these fungi goodies, on foraging trips to Spreewald. I know a place, where I have seen them every time I have gone there during this autumn. Since I am not 100% certain which species I have been looking at, I have done most of what one can do within the boundaries of the forager´s rule number one: do not eat, what you cannot identify with certainty. And that is to look at them, gather single specimens, take pictures of them, and do some research into the characteristics of whatever species you think you have found and its lookalikes. A good idea – which I have not yet followed through with – is to have what you have found identified by an expert. I know two mycological institutions in Berlin that will be helpful in this regard: a mushroom expert at Berlin´s Botanic Garden and Deutsche Gesellshaft für Mykologie, DGfM, the German society for mycology. The Botanic Garden has weekly public consutations and the DGfM also has meetings open to the public.

The Field Mushroom (Agaricus campestris)  

In Spreewald you can find a number of mushroom species. I have been foraging on meadows that shift between pastureland and being left alone. This kind of land is the habitat of the edible field mushroom, (Agaricus campestris), closely related to the common cultivated button mushroom we buy in the stores, (agaricus bisporus), and I suspect this is one of the species I have seen there. Several species may be confused with the Agaricus campestris – some of which are morbidly toxic, wherefore I have left it among the grass and herbs so far. However, I am currently studying the characteristics of this mushroom and about to go on a trip, on which I will, hopefully, have a closer look at it. For identification of the field mushroom, I suggest finding an authoritative mushroom source. Here, however, is a mushroom risotto with wild herbs recipe for which I have used the button mushroom:

Mushroom risotto with a herbal mix of sorrel, dandelion and yarrow

To serve 3-4 people, put some 250 g of button mushroom on a pan and sauté it over medium heat in 2 tablespoons of butter until they are brown about the edges, and then turn down the heat to just keep them warm. 

Pour 1.5 l water into a 3-l pot, bring to a boil and add the salt. Add the rice which shoud be brought to, and kept at a simmer. Pour in some white wine, and add the mushrooms and the herbs, for instance sorrel, dandelion and yarrow, or whichever you like and have in the area. Finally, add water, as needed, little after little and stir continuously until the rice is tender but still slightly firm at the center.