In its original condition; unspoilt; clean and fresh as if new; spotless; immaculate; perfect; virgin; pure; etc. These are all synonyms for the word pristine. The number of definitions available are, of course, numerous.

Pristine Weeds

But how is the concept relevant for edible wild plants? And how can we define pristine plants and thereby distinguish them from somehow tainted or less delicate plants? I have no pretentions to any near-conclusive definition, rather a practical approach to foraging pristine edible wild plants and providing them to refined palates in the centre of a metropolis such as Berlin.

City foraging seems to become increasingly popular. And research shows that there is no difference in health risks between food cultivated on the countryside and bought in the stores, on the one hand, and food foraged in or outside the city, on the other. In other words, this article does not intend to dissuade anybody from city foraging, in fact I practice it myself for my own consumption. That said, there definitely is a significant difference, if not so clear-cut a distinction, between the issue of whether some food consumption does not entail a significant health risk and whether it is pristine or not. The concept of pristine foods must be much more ambitious, than simply not a health risk. A restaurant striving for excellence cannot be satisfied with produce that is simply not unhealthy.

Seeing, smelling and tasting pristine produce, you will not be in doubt. But from a foraging perspective, how does one seek out the pristine edible wild foods? A distinction between foods foraged within and outside of the city seems a basic distinction that must be made, a distinction I have been requested to make by chef and one of the owners of Korean/Spanish tapas fusion restaurant Kochu Karu, José Miranda Morillo, regarding deliveries this autumn. Comparing wild city plants with the same wild edibles from the countryside – or from uncultivated natural wild plant habitats such as woodlands, meadows and heaths – the freshness, the juiciness, the colors and the size of wild plants gathered outside the city don´t find any match within city borders.  

The Ernst Project

My thinking on pristine edible wild plants has been inspired by the project Ernst. A small restaurant in Wedding, Berlin, run by a young ambitious team lead by Canadian chef Dylan Watson-Brawne, who became Berliner Stadtgespräch, the talk of the town, due to the dinners he served privately in his apartment. Until little more than a year ago, when the team opened restaurant Ernst, which seats 12 people in Wedding. A love for pristine produce is at the centre of their work. Finding this very inspiring, I sent an email suggesting I provide deliveries emphasizing the concept of pristine wild edibles to the Ernst team as well as to four other restaurants. As aimed for most directly, it was the kitchen of the Ernst team in Wedding I found myself in a couple of days later, not any of the others.

A Trip to Spreewald

But is it sufficient to limit one´s ambitions to a concept of pristine foods that distinguishes between plants from within and outside the city? We also could set higher standards. The following could be additional criteria for what will make the wild edible plants collected for our baskets likely candidates for pristine foods: seeking out areas of high levels of biodiversity; choosing designated protected areas such as UNESCO´s Biosphere Reserves; and picking foods that are just ripe, neither immature nor passed beyond maturity undergoing the natural process of decay that will eventually make any food fail the pristine delicacy test.

There is no reason to complicate the matter, though. If you are in Berlin, take a look at a map of Berlin und Umgebung, Berlin and its surrounding areas, and you will find two UNESCO designated protected Biosphere Reserves within a days commute: Spreewald and Schorfheide Heide. (Biosphere Reserves are, of course, an international phenomenon, so if you reside somewhere else, then choose a map of that particular area.) Looking at the map of Berlin you will Instantly realize the first thing that sets them apart: their position on a North/South divide. While Spreewald spreads out south some 100km south of Berlin, Schorfheide-Chorin is found some 75km northeast of Berlin. This difference of altitude is one significant indicator of what you will be likely to find, together with elevation, type of habitat and season of the year. 

These past weeks I have taken some trips to Spreewald, because I am interested in more southern areas as well as wetlands which entail greater chances of mushroom harvesting. And I tell you the Spreewald area is a true “pleasure garden” seducing you through all senses and potentially making you get completely lost in the wilderness: scenic views of meadows with strong herbal scents, some of them sprouting mostly with mint, but also with less known species such as the Common Bird´s-foot-trefoil; the dark green leaves of the Silverweed creeping along the ground and its yellow flowers; and the quite common, but large unknown Canadian Goldrut, whose beautiful yellow flowers are, for instance, used  to make tea. Of course, this aromatic and scenic meadow paradise also hosts the plant most easily identified after sunset, the nettle, species confirmed by the burning sensation on your skin that tells you it´s time to finish the trip and go home.

It is also time to finish this article, leaving you hanging on a cliff from which you can vaguely spot such amazing Spreewald habitats as meadows of big, fresh sweet woodruf, and delicacies such as beautiful purple and sweet tasting pea flowers, mushrooms, horse radish with leaves rising at least 1 meter above ground, fresh, ripe apples, pears and plums, the beforementioned aromatic and beautiful yellow flowers of the Canadian Goldrut, Silverweed and Common Bird´s-foot-trefoil, as well as pumpkins more than a meter wide. Hang on in there: future articles will take you to the land of pristine Spreewald wild food flavors.