LCBO Food and Drink Early Summer 2016

TREND SPOTT ING

PINE SHOOT-INFUSED HONEY [ WHAT TO EAT ]

Master Forager

Chef Michael Stadtländer of Eigensinn Farm, who is planning a pine-centric 12-course menu for later this year, originally created this honey (recipe page 164) for us to sweeten a blackcurrant sorbet in our Autumn 2013 issue, but it has further applications, too. He recommends using it to glaze chicken; or, reduced with Creemore Springs Premium Lager ( LCBO 6445, 473 mL, $2.95), to glaze ham; or combining with Dillon’s Gin 22 Unfiltered ( LCBO 358556, $39.85) to flavour ice cream. Pine-shoot honey would also make a good addition to a salad dressing over shaved root vegetables, notes Food Editor Lucy Waverman, or in the Pine Nut Tarts above (recipe page 164), a take on Lucy’s Butter Pecan Tarts from a previous issue, with the honey replacing maple syrup and pine nuts replacing pecans.

The leaves and needles of evergreens are among the easiest ingredients to forage, Forbes says. Be sure to avoid trees exposed to pollutants— think commercial Christmas trees, hydro corridors and roadsides—and to receive permission to harvest. Also beware of eastern yew and red cedar, both of which are toxic.    Unlike with many wild foods, there is virtually no danger of overharvesting or harming the plant. “There’s an awful lot of needles on a tree,” says Forbes. “A place the size of [Toronto’s] High Park would probably keep the country in spruce tips all year.” JONATHAN FORBES shares tips on gathering tree ingredients for use in your kitchen.

Not up for foraging? Buy tree ingredients in a jar instead. Evergreen Preserved Products

Among the many dried and preserved foraged foods from Toronto’s Forbes Wild Foods (wildfoods.ca) are three tree-based products. Balsam Fir Jelly goes well with freshwater fish while Cedar Jelly pairs with salmon; both can also be used with lamb or game or served alongside cheese. Use jarred Spruce Tips like capers, or as a stuffing for freshwater fish.

32  FOOD & DRI NK EARLY SUMMER 2016

PORTRAIT OF JONATHAN FORBES BY RONALD TSANG