The Wild Vegan Cookbook

The Wild Vegan Cookbook: A Forager's Culinary Guide (in the Field or in the Supermarket) to Preparing and Savoring Wild (and Not So Wild) Natural Foods, by "Wildman" Steve Brill.

OK, who reading that immediately leapt to the thought that the book was published by Harvard Common Press? No, you didn't. Put your hand down.

Not that the publisher has anything to do with the University. It puts out cookbooks and parenting guides. Still.

Anyway, here's what it says about the Wildman:

Leading American foraging expert “Wildman” Steve Brill has been guiding foraging tours in and around New York City since 1982. He has appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman and Today, and has been profiled in numerous publications, including The New York Times.

Claire Hopley of the Amherst Bulletin has this to say about the huge book.

At 445 pages plus a lengthy section of tables and weights and measures, this book is quite a tome, and readers new to foraging will be amazed at how much there is out there that we can eat. OK we know about mushrooms and crab apples and wild blueberries; we know there are fiddleheads in the spring and blackberries in the fall. But who knew about Curly Dock and Wineberries? Who knew that daylily and cattail shoots were edible, or where to find wild cabbage or knotweed -- the latter described as "one of the premier wild foods of Spring?" Who knew that common spicebush berries taste like allspice?

This book is an encyclopedia of answers to these questions, and also a fascinating compendium of recipes. You don't actually have to go out and gather stuff from the wayside -- often you can buy or grow cultivated forms -- but this being the season for wild mushrooms, you may want to check out the many mushroom recipes.

Harvard Common Press trade paperback
528 pages
List price: $27.95

The book was originally published in hardcover as The Wild Vegetarian Cookbook.