The Forager Chef’s Book of Flora

Chef and author, Alan Bergo is the 2022 James Beard Foundation Award Winner for Instructional Visual Media.

*As Seen on NBC’s The Today Show!

*Look for Alan on HULU’s new series “Chef vs. Wild”!

From root to flower—and featuring 180 recipes and over 230 of the author’s own beautiful photographs—explore the edible plants we find all around us with the Forager Chef Alan Bergo as he breaks new culinary ground!

From the UMAi Dry Team

Our friend, Alan Bergo, has been working with us for a while and sharing his results with UMAi Dry on his website ForagerChef.com. He's made everything from dry-aged venison to smoked country ham, and his wild fennel seed chorizo was one of the best things we've tasted. Not only will you find tasty and informative recipes, but this book is filled with Alan's breathtaking photography, making it just at home on your coffee table as it is in the kitchen.

If you're looking to get outside and forage in the wilderness, or cozy up at home and mentally make the journey, this book may be for you.

Description

In The Forager Chef’s Book of Flora, you’ll find the exotic to the familiar—from Ramp Leaf Dumplings to Spruce Tip Panna Cotta to Crisp Fiddlehead Pickles—with Chef Bergo’s unique blend of easy-to-follow instruction and out-of-this-world inspiration.

Over the past fifteen years, Minnesota chef Alan Bergo has become one of America’s most exciting and resourceful culinary voices, with millions seeking his guidance through his wildly popular website and video tutorials.

Bergo’s inventive culinary style is defined by his encyclopedic curiosity, and his abiding, root-to-flower passion for both wild and cultivated plants. Instead of waiting for fall squash to ripen, Bergo eagerly harvests their early shoots, flowers, and young greens—taking a holistic approach to cooking with all parts of the plant, and discovering extraordinary new flavors and textures along the way.

The Forager Chef’s Book of Flora demonstrates how understanding the different properties and growing phases of roots, stems, leaves, and seeds can inform your preparation of something like the head of an immature sunflower—as well as the lesser-used parts of common vegetables, like broccoli or eggplant. As a society, we’ve forgotten this type of old-school knowledge, including many brilliant culinary techniques that were borne of thrift and necessity. For our own sake, and that of our planet, it’s time we remembered. And in the process, we can unlock new flavors from the abundant landscape around us.

Reviews

“With a passion for bringing a taste of the wild to the table, [Bergo’s] inspiration for experimentation shows in his inventive dishes created around ingredients found in his own backyard.”—Tastemade

“[An] excellent debut. . . . Advocating that plants are edible in their entirety is one thing, but this [book] delivers the delectable means to prove it.”—Publishers Weekly

“Alan Bergo was foraging in the Midwest way before it was trendy.”—Outside Magazine

“In this remarkable new cookbook, Bergo provides stories, photographs and inventive recipes.”—Star Tribune

 Hardcover, 288 pages