» wild asparagus

Stuff Italians Like – Wild Edibles

Joe — Thu, 06 May 2010 20:15:20 +0000

If you grew up Italian, you probably have a relative that forages for wild plants and mushrooms. I was lucky enough to tag along with my father, uncles and nonno when I was a kid to learn from them and to this day, heading into the woods has remained one of my favorite pastimes. So yesterday I headed out to a favorite spot of mine in search for some wild edible plants.

My targets were 2: asparagus and morel mushrooms. I know where to find the first but the second has managed to eluded me once again (stupid Morels!)

The Asparagus are ready! As you can tell from the photo, these asparagus at one time were farmed. They are much different than the ones we found in Calabria.

read how we came across this wonderful field of asparagus last year.

When we got the asparagus home, we cooked them up and wrapped them in prosciutto! (of course we did… it makes them more Italian.)

The morels are still a mystery… but I will find them someday. Here are a few other wild things I came across.

Wild Onions (I think they are officially wild garlic… but they look and smell a lot more like onions to me)

Wild Onions were everywhere!

Wild Mustard Greens … little late when they’ve flowered.

Wild Carrot

Wild Strawberries will be ready soon!

Orpine – The leaves are great raw or in salads.

It’s true: Italians like foraging for wild things.

Calabria & a Giveaway

Joe — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:23:49 +0000

Bye, I’m headed to Calabria tomorrow… wanna come?

my mamma in my father’s Fiat 500

I’m looking forward to spending some time with family, taking lots of pictures, eating some great food and going for long walks through our family olive grove and the Calabrian countryside looking for wild asparagus (check out the video from last year)… I’ll be sure to bring back some of my favorite treats too!

I’m also going to put a package together for a lucky Italyville reader with a few special items from Italy when I return. This is what you need to do for a chance to win.

Comment on this post with an item that you like to bring home from Italy, or if you’ve never been, an item that you would like to bring back if you were to go.
Retweet this post and/or follow Italyville on facebook or twitter by clicking on the links in the right sidebar.

I’ll choose a random winner when I get back. Ciao for now! (for US readers only.. sorry but shipping is expensive! I promise to do another giveaway soon)

PS – Happy San Giuseppe to you all you Giuseppes, Joes, Peppes, Peppinos and Peppones!

Foraging Asparagus II

Joe — Mon, 04 May 2009 04:26:12 +0000

In March I was in Calabria visiting my family and did a little wild asparagus hunting with my cousin… if you’ve read some of my posts, you know I like to forage for “wild things” so yesterday when E and I were out on a hike with Dexter (our Italian Labrador…. you mean you didn’t know about Italian Labradors??!) We decided to gather some dandelions for lunch and while I was picking and E was taking pictures, the conversation went something like this:

E: how about some asparagus?

Me: What?… did you say asparagus? You must be mistaken.

E: No, these are asparagus.

Me: I don’t think so, there’s no asparagus around here.

E: I know what asparagus look like.

Me: HOLY S*&%!!

If you’ve seen the video and the photos of the wild asparagus we found in Calabria you can see the difference. These asparagus look like the ones you would find in the supermarket. I remember going asparagus hunting with my father when I was young. He told me that there used to be an asparagus farm in the fields where we would find them, so the asparagus were thick. There’s a neighborhood in that field now but I assume that there might be a similar story behind these since it was an old farm that has since been donated as a wilderness reserve… whatever the story, it’s A-OK with E and me because we’re having asparagus for dinner!

Wild Asparagus in Calabria

Joe — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 22:04:27 +0000

I’m finally back from Italy and have been looking forward to posting. I wanted to post while I was there but between family, friends and eating there was little time… not to mention my lack of Internet access. Anyway it rained a lot but my cousin Alessandro and I took advantage of the few sunny days we had and went foraging for wild asparagus. As you know from some of my past posts… I like to get in the woods to find wild mushrooms but this time a year in Calabria it’s wild asparagus.

My Aunt makes a delicious frittata!