“Chefs are crazy for roses now,” says Tama Matsuoka Wong. Not fancy roses, but the wild rosa rugosa that grows along our scruffy shorelines.
Matsuoka Wong speaks from experience, as she sells foraged ingredients to some of the top restaurants in New York City, including Daniel and Noma, plus Shou Sugi Ban in Water Mill. Her latest book, "Into the Weeds: How to Garden Like a Forager," offers insight into what to pick and what to plant, so you don’t have to venture too far off the beaten path for those coveted foraged ingredients.
“Pick the invasives and plant the natives,” advises Matsuoka Wong. Foraging nonnative plants is a good way to keep them in check, for one thing, she says.
But because you can’t and shouldn’t just waltz onto public lands to pick what you like — and you don’t know what may have been sprayed with insecticides or pesticides there — Matsuoka Wong recommends cultivating “foragable” plants in your own yard.
Rosa rugosa is such a familiar sight in the dunes of the bay and ocean shores that we may think it is native, but it was actually imported here from Asia in the 1770s, around the time of the American Revolution. It flowers repeatedly throughout the summer before turning to hips in late August or the fall. While commercially grown roses are propagated for shelf life and withstanding transport, the aroma of these wild roses is intoxicating.
“Both the petals and hips are used in cooking. Rose pairs well with pistachio or almond. Chefs are incorporating it into fish and meat dishes, too,” says Matsuoka Wong. Picking the roses for petals or hips can help to prevent them from spreading. Making your own rose water from the invasive plants can add a little Micheli-star power to your cooking while supporting our local ecology.
Like beach roses, beach plums are a familiar and beloved sight along our coastline. Beach plums grow on medium-height shrubs with a profusion of white blossoms in late spring. Come September, those blossoms become small green plums that slowly ripen through October to a deep and dusky purple. Once ripe, they are extremely sour and are rarely eaten as is but feature prominently in old East Hampton recipes as jams, jellies, relishes, and the occasional compote. Matsuoka Wong recommends lacing the traditional Bonac beach plum jam with cardamom.
Or, you can fill a clean Mason jar with beach plums, pour vodka over it to within half an inch of the brim, put a lid on it, and keep it in a dark pantry or cupboard, turning and shaking it every once and a while. By Thanksgiving, decant it, and you will have a glorious, jewel-colored “beach plum moonshine,” the country cousin of aquavit.
Michael Pollan, author of "The Omnivore’s Dilemma" and "Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual," among other notable best-sellers,
considers purslane and lamb’s quarters — eminently foragable — among the most nutritious plants to eat. They are sources of high amounts of Omega 3, as well as iron, vitamins A and C. They are also the most likely to end up pulled and composted.
Purslane resembles a tiny jade plant and often pops up in unmanicured areas. Some complain that purslane tastes bitter. Matsuoka Wong explains that by picking the tips before it starts to flower the bitterness is nipped in the bud. Lamb’s quarters, sometimes called pig weed, tastes better than it sounds and can be cooked just as you would spinach.
Matsuoka Wong’s book outlines ten easy plants to pick and when to pick them for the best flavor and impact. Foraged plants tend to be nutrient-dense, so you don’t need to eat a lot to gain the benefit. People ask, “Where is the wild?” comments Matsuoka Wong. “People think the wild is a destination, but the wild should be growing all around us.”