22 Jan 2013, Posted by admin in EAT + DRINK, 0 Comments

A Feast of Weeds: Foraging Lessons From The Pre (Blueberry) Obesity Years

Notice how many foraging books have been making the rounds of late? (A favorite: Matsuoka Wong and Eddy Leroux’s field guide and cookbook, Foraged Flavor — lamb’s quarters meatballs!). The latest, from UCLA professor of Italian and culinary history Luigi Ballerini, is  A Feast of Weeds: A Literary Guide to Foraging and Cooking Wild Plants with recipes by Ada De Santis (translated by Gianpiero W. Doebler).

In the book, Ballerini abandons that typically straightforward (Bland?) academic tone for a wandering voice (a good thing), so the history woven throughout the book comes with some unintentionally hilarious snark — those overbearing, fat (American) wild blueberry references among them.

Funny, to this overbearing patriot, wild American blueberries are always so lithe compared to their cultivated cousins. Maybe it’s an Italian vs. American theory of fruit relativity issue. Or maybe Ballerini has only been blueberry foraging at Costco when he’s on this side of the Atlantic. No matter.  Nothing a little blueberry grappa can’t resolve.

Have more food history for thought?  Share it on facebook.com/EatHistory or via twitter.com/EatHistory.