Foraging & Feasting: A Field Guide and Wild Food Cookbook by Dina Falconi

A forager’s library often encompasses field guides and cookbooks, but rarely do the two categories overlap, and certainly not in such a beautiful volume as Foraging & Feasting. Written by Dina Falconi with illustrations by Wendy Hollender, this book marries art and science, nature and cooking, and it’s a wonderful resource for anyone who wants to learn how to identify, harvest, and prepare the wild foods that grow all around us.

• Who wrote it: Dina Falconi; Illustrated by Wendy Hollender

• Who published it: Botanical Arts Press

• Number of recipes: 100+

• Recipes for right now: Late Fall Bitters, Winter Wellness Tea, Apple Cider Kefir Soda, Citrus Maple Butter, Root Bisque, Winter Frittata, Wild Shepherd or Cottage Pie, Herbal Truffles

• Other highlights: The first part of the book focuses on Art of Foraging, including plant identification and knowing when and how to pick consciously and safely. From Amaranth to Yellow Dock, 50 wild edible plants are clearly and beautifully illustrated alongside information about identification, edibility, harvest schedule, and food usage. Among these 50 plants are many common “weeds,” which readers are likely to find growing in their own backyards and communities. The field guide also includes useful charts on plant habitats and growing conditions, seasonal availability, and culinary uses.

The second section is devoted to the Kitchen Arts. The author provides over 100 flexible “master recipes” from which thousands of variations can be made. Instead of calling for a specific ingredient, many of the recipes are designed so that cooks can use whatever wild herb/fruit/etc. they have. Recipes include beverages, condiments, syrups, salads, soups, main dishes, and desserts with a focus on wholesome food that’s unprocessed and unrefined. (Those familiar with the Weston A. Price Foundation and Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions will recognize the author’s approach.)

Foraging & Feasting is instructional, inspirational, and empowering. I recommend it for beginning and advanced foragers, as it’s the sort of book you can reference again and again over the seasons and years.

• Who would enjoy this book? people who are interested in wild food, foraging, herbalism, and Weston A. Price/Nourishing Traditions-style cooking

Find the book at your local library, independent bookstore, or online: Foraging & Feasting: A Field Guide and Wild Food Cookbook by Dina Falconi

• Visit the author’s website: Foraging & Feasting

Apartment Therapy Media makes every effort to test and review products fairly and transparently. The views expressed in this review are the personal views of the reviewer and this particular product review was not sponsored or paid for in any way by the manufacturer or an agent working on their behalf. However, the manufacturer did give us the product for testing and review purposes.