Foraged & Found
Delectable collectibles
With more and more interest in using local product and the freshest
of the fresh, foraged items have become the holy grail for restaurants
and farmers markets. We went to a Northwest source, Jeremy Faber of
Foraged & Found Edibles, to get some detail. He started the business in
2001 with Christina Choi, a fellow chef, who moved on to start her own
restaurant, Nettletown, in the Eastlake neighborhood.
SD!: How did you get started doing this?
JF: I've always loved the woods and was a forestry major at
the University of Vermont, but never completed my degree. I then got a
culinary degree from the Culinary Institute of America, then moved to
Seattle. I was picking for restaurants I was working in and slowly
started doing more and more. After taking some time off to travel, I
came back to a great spring picking morels and have never stopped. Since
I'm in the Northwest, it just seems right to combine my two careers.
Morels
SD!: Where did you cook when you were a chef?
JF: The Herbfarm, Bandoleone, Brasa, Supreme.
SD!: What do you primarily forage?
JF: I forage all sorts of stuff: Miners lettuce, sea bean,
mushrooms, berries, wood sorel, fern, stinging nettle, Washington black
truffle, medicinals (elderflower, madrone bark, rosehips, vanilla leaf).
There's a full list on our website.
SD!: Who are your customers?
JF: I sell to 80 or so restaurants in Seattle and I started a
warehouse in New York City this year and ship to other restaurants
across the country. I also do 3-4 farmers markets per week.
SD!: How do you find your customers, or do they find you?
JF: I have lots of contacts through mutual friends. For
restaurants, we look up their menus to see if they use this kind of
product, then drop off product guides and/or call.
SD!: Where do you forage?
JF: Mostly in Washington. Some foraging is done in California
during winter. Every once in awhile, we'll forage in Montana, British
Columbia, Oregon and Idaho in spring.
SD!: With your culinary background, do you favor eating these
items plainly, creating dishes around them or adding them to familiar
dishes?
JF: I like them best simply used, but I don't eat mushrooms on
a regular basis.
SD!: Are you finding that the demand for foraged items is
increasing or staying about the same?
JF: It's increasing, especially for items that I solely
harvest and have developed a market for.
SD!: Is it doable to handle increased demand or is there a
natural limit on what you can find?
JF: There is a natural limit on a lot of stuff, especially for
quality. Some mushrooms have good years where supply is greater than
demand, which is why I dry a lot of product some years.
SD!: Do you grow any of your products yourself or forage in
the wild only?
JF: Only wild.
SD!: With the increasing interest in foraged items, it seems
like there are more foragers. Does that create problems in terms of
everyone bumping into each other or does everyone have their own
foraging areas?
 JF: There really aren't any problems. Amateurs do not go very
far and with gas prices this year, I think the opposite will happen:
fewer people will be foraging.
SD!: What's the most interesting item you've ever foraged:
JF: Nothing is overly interesting, but there are some
mushrooms I love to find and pick: blue chanterelle, black trumpets,
cauliflower.
Photo: blue chanterelle
SD!: What's the most popular item you forage?
JF: Morels, porcini, nettles and miners lettuce have huge
demand.
SD!: Any interesting stories about foraging you'd like to
share?
JF: There are just too many! Weather, getting stuck, hiking 30
miles a day, dealing with the Forest Service...
 If you'd like more information on Forged & Found Edibles, check their
website:
www.foragedandfoundedibles.com. 866-951-1031.
Contact Jeremy at
jeremy@foragedandfoundedibles.com.
For sales, contact Jonathan Julia at
jonathan@foragedandfoundedibles.com.
Photo: stinging nettle |
