- [Announcer] This program made possible by Forest River.

(gentle music) We have always been dedicated to helping people experience the joy of the outdoors by building a full range of recreational vehicles.

At Forest River, your needs, interest, and lifestyle are at the forefront of everythi Forest River, follow the river.

To learn more, visit ForestRiver - I'm just right now positively identifying this swor It's got a little peculiarity to I love this when this happens.

Look at that, a little lobe ther on the bottom of the leaf.

You can learn a lot about plant identification from watching these films, but you cannot learn it all.

Turn to your books, and go onlin But most importantly, find a local edible wild plant t Learn from them firsthand, so you can have 100% accuracy, and you can enjoy the wild harve (peaceful music) (birds chirping) Ah, beautiful.

You know, on my way here, I stopped for coffee, morning cafe kinda thing, and I could overhear some people They were talking about the grow and what they were planting, and they started gossiping about someone who wasn't there, saying, "Oh, you know, he just grows everything, and he even grows sumac, and that's a weed."

Of course, as soon as I heard, "And that's a weed," regarding s my ears pricked up and I (hisses) bristled a little.

The truth is that these are all wild plants, shrubs, trees, vines, flowers, roots, shoots, and they're all beautiful.

So in fact, if there's one thing that Kevin and Paul and I want you to get out of these fil it's that there are no weeds.

Weeds don't exist in the world of the wild harvest.

(lively music) We're going down here.

You recognize anything?

- [Paul] I think I see some nett - Well, what you see is Urtica, Urtica, also known as nettle.

So yes, we are standing in amongst stinging nettle, and nettle is delicious.

Have you worked with nettle?

- I have.

- Perfect.

- Yeah.

- Well then this is your day bec we are in a time of year right n where the nettles all just coming up, you can see, look, it's all like two, three i maybe four inches maximum.

So it's nice and tender, nice an you know about the stinging effe Those little needles, they're like little hypodermic n They're hollow, and they contain formic acid.

You know what else has formic ac - [Paul] Uh, no, maybe rose bush - [Les] The sting of a red ant.

- [Paul] Oh, okay.

- Same thing.

So the sting of a red ant and the sting of stinging nettle is formic acid.

So I'm not gonna gather it all t this is all for you to harvest.

You already know the plants, so you know which one to pick, but also, did you know you can eat the roots?

- No.

- Right.

So, gather some of the tender young roots as well.

- Okay.

- The roots, the shoots, just gather the whol All right, there's lots of it, it's fantastically abundant, so Paul, enjoy your nettle, it's on you, I'm gonna go find another plant.

Originally from Europe, nettle has been introduced to and can be found abundantly throughout Asia, North and South America, and even Australia.

Butterfly larva consider these delicious plants.

- Trick here is to loosen the so which is very easy to do.

Look at that.

No work, no hassle.

I've got the full root.

(gentle music) It's great color.

This is a really easy harvest.

(birds chirping) (gentle music continues) - Well, while Paul is busy trying not to get stung by the stinging nettle, I found another little beauty ri Okay, so this wonderful plant is Sisymbrium officinale, which is hedge mustard, or European mustard.

So it's a traveler, came over from Europe and North Africa.

We have here black mustard or field mustard.

This little guy is going to be a as those two wild mustards are in all the same ways.

And I just love that we're at this stage where the leaves are just kind of juicy and tende and they haven't become overly bitter at this point.

So, I think Paul is gonna love t Mm.

And there's the mustard.

Whoosh!

Right to the top of the mouth.

Whoo!

Here is last year's dried stems, stalk, seeds, seed pods were.

That's how I spotted this mustar was actually seeing the tall, dr standing up everywhere, thought, "Oh, that's gotta be mu Come down and sure enough, here's this year's growth.

Now for identification, let's take note here.

These leaves are what we would c pinnately divided leaves.

When I say a leaf is pinnately d or a leaf is pinnate, the easiest way to figure that o is to say it is feather-like, mm So think pinnate, feather-like.

Let's gather some more of this.

This is great.

So much of it.

That should actually be plenty now, for Paul.

Bringing these back to him, and these will be the surprise i that he doesn't know is coming.

Potentially domesticated as early as 6,000 years ago and written about in Sanskrit texts from 3000 BC, there was little danger in over-harvesting mustard.

With several varieties available it's found throughout the world, having originated in Asia.

There are crops dating back as far as Hellenistic and Roman (gentle music) - I'm always grateful that I have a chance to sit back breathe the air, take it all in.

Right now in this time and place it's the in-between season.

There's a lot of brown, there's still some debris from last winter, yet there's things that are grow and you can see the green poking I think a lot of people walk by, and I did.

I know, I had no idea where to l But they walk by, they don't pay attention, and there is, you know, something delicious over in the ditch.

There's a lesson there.

Pay attention, and there's oppor where you least expect it.

(gentle music continues) - Let's go up this way.

The next plant that I wanna introduce you to is called Taraxacum officinale.

Do you know what officinale stan - Official, I would guess.

- No.

Sold in shops.

- Huh.

- Right, I know, I just learned that myself.

So you know, the reason why it's kind of exciting to learn the Latin names is also that it's a much safer method, because common names, you know, you can have a common for a plant on the West Coast that's edible.

You go over to the East Coast or another country, same common name, different plant, and it's poisonous.

That's why it's important to learn the Latin names.

Specificity.

This next little flower is one of my favorites.

It's a member of the sunflower f and it is the dandelion.

- [Paul] I was curious if we were going here.

- Taraxacum officinale.

I just love the dandelion.

With some honey bees on 'em, look at that little- - [Paul] Yeah, hey guys!

- It's a traveler, by the way.

it was not endemic to North Amer It actually came across on the M - The Mayflower?

- Yeah, on purpose, as a cash cr - I knew it came from Europe, but that's interesting that we know the ship.

- Yeah, exactly.

They brought dandelions over with the purpose of cultivating and they seem to have done a pretty good job.

In North America it's just every so it's a plant we can enjoy.

Right now, I want you to go for the part of the plant that happens to be my favorite.

The only part I want you to gath I want you to leave the leaves, I want you to leave the roots.

just these beautiful flower tops - [Paul] Okay.

That's an easy pi - So, I'm gonna leave you with the wonderful, beautiful, tasty, abundant dandelion.

- I'm always mentally prepared for the worst that harvesting wild ingredients could be tough and challenging.

In this case, it's not at all.

It's about as easy to pick these dandelion heads as anything else I've ever done.

(gentle music) Oh, this is a good one.

- [Les] Hey Paul!

Come on out for the reveal.

- [Paul] Oh, the magic moment.

- The magic moment.

All right, you ready?

- Okay, I am.

- It's my favorite part of the whole thing, is when you get to see the surprise ingredient.

Sisymbrium officinale, all right is the plant that you don't know that is under here.

Something a little different.

I want you to taste this other plant before you see it.

- Oh!

- So, close your eyes.

- Okay.

- That leaf there, and so go ahead and bite and you can eat as much of it as you like, so.

- If I had to guess, I would say some sort of wild mustard or radish.

- You're on the money.

Sisymbrium officinale is hedge mustard, European mustard.

And like the dandelion, it's a hitchhiker to North America, all right, so it's not endemic to this cont it came across from Europe and Northern Africa.

So let's do a little reveal here Gimme a hand with this one.

- [Paul] Okay.

- [Les] There we go.

- [Paul] Okay, let's see what's happening here.

- [Les] There we go.

So, we've got your stinging nettle, your hedge mustard, and of course the lovely - [Pau] Dandelion.

- Dandelion, right.

Taraxacum officinale, Sisymbrium officinale, Urtica.

And I wanna point something out These three plants, I guarantee you most people would call them weeds.

- Yeah.

Yeah, of course.

- [Les] Breaks my heart.

- [Paul] Yeah.

- Breaks my heart, these are not weeds, these are wildflowers.

They are wild edible plants.

So, I'll be ready and excited to see what you come up with.

- Sometimes the reveal has me (chuckles) nervous.

After tasting all of these, I realized that their flavors are so compatible, it's gonna make my job easy.

Everything is flavorful, I know how to treat the nettles, the mustard is absolutely wonder and the flavor's powerful, powerful in a spicy way, not powerful in a bitter way, so really easy to work with, and these dandelion blossoms, th are just something that I have to really make a decision on whether I keep them as they are, or if I try to cook them and do something different with (gentle music) Ah, there we go.

Nice, hot charcoal.

I have an idea how to deal with the stinging components of the stinging nettle.

It needs heat to get rid of the stinging component.

You can either blanch it, steam it, saute it, or in this case, my plan is to g (gentle music continues) I wanna get more of that charred black leaf that's happening right here on these nettles.

That color visually will stand o against the beautiful yellow of the dandelion blossom.

Very nice.

I've got this idea, I've got a play on a green goddess salad dressing.

It's not gonna be that, I don't have all the ingredients, but what I'm looking for is a ni green, mayonnaise-based sauce.

So to make that, first I need to make mayonnaise.

Start with egg yolks.

(gentle music continues) So mayonnaise is an emulsified s Essentially, the difference betw the one that I'm making here or a traditional mayonnaise would be the acid that goes into So I always start with egg yolks, a little bit of mustard.

Instead of lemon, I'm adding a splash of white vinegar.

I really want this to have a tan so I'm tailor-making this sauce with that in mind.

Now I'm adding some oil until the sauce thickens.

(gentle music continues) So the main objective of this dr is to keep that natural mustard but it does need a little help, it needs something to round it o and that's where this beautiful green onion comes in.

All right, and this is the part I liked the most.

Mayonnaise in.

(gentle music continues) Time for a taste.

Yeah, undeniable.

It tastes like European mustard.

Time to play.

(gentle music continues) All right.

- [Les] Hello, hello!

- Hello.

Here you go.

- Oo, thank you, wow.

- [Paul] This is all about celeb the dandelion freshly picked.

- [Les] Okay.

- There is the, you know, the sweetness that goes along wi These ones are wonderful, there's no bitter to them at all - Mm.

Wow.

Oh, I love the little char on, i I hate when I have to try to be critical of you, because there's nothing to be critical of here.

I'm drawing a blank.

This is just fantastic.

I wouldn't have expected the cha Here, let me do a full on.

(gentle music) Mm!

Wow.

I'm getting tired of saying this but right now I'm having a flavor experience that I've never experienced befo And I'm going to attribute it to time, and place, chef, ingredien and as always, just this moment.

Like I can't see repeating this just willy-nilly next week.

The dandelion is in perfect form perfect ripeness for what you ne the stinging nettle young and te the mustard, the very same, also nothing's shot up yet, so we have a moment, a culinary ah that we can't repeat, and I love when it's that way when we can't, you know, let's face it, I just don't believe in consiste You want consistency, go to a fast food joint.

You want an experience, create a - One comment that I can make about that dressing.

It really intensified it as it s which is to be expected, often that happens with food.

When you make a soup, it tastes better the day after, a stew, the same sort of thing.

And this, I almost am finding that to my palate, and this is only my palate, it might be just getting a little out of balance.

It's a little spicy, it's kind of amplifying maybe a bitter quality, but that could just be me.

- The robustness of the sauce that I think you're talking abou it's becoming more robust with age, right, with time, is perfect for me right now.

I'm not starving, I'm just ready to eat something, and to me, yeah, it just, wow, this was great.

- I'm glad you enjoyed it.

- Oh, I loved it.

I didn't just enjoy it, I loved Perfect.

(gentle music) - I'm thinking pasta for my next and pasta can be so easy.

It just takes a little bit of ti Flour.

I'm just gonna make a well in there for my eggs.

One whole egg, a couple of egg y And a generous pour of olive oil And then easy, just start incorporating the flour.

(gentle music continues) There we go.

Just a little splash of water.

Not too much, I'm just trying to keep the hydration level so everything starts binding.

Almost there.

I'm just kneading this until it' You can tell it's getting close.

Almost looks like a ball of brea My next move is to wrap it in plastic wrap, and then let it rest for about o or you can let it go overnight if you'd like, a couple of days.

There we go.

Next step, gonna wrap it in plas Put it in the fridge to rest for about one hour.

(gentle music continues) Now it's time for the wild ingre Time to get ready to roll some p (gentle music continues) One key point when you're rolling pasta into sheets is start with your setting small on the rollers, and work your way to a thinner s If you find it sticks, just add a little flour between (gentle music continues) Last one.

And just like that, I've got som (gentle music continues) I like the roots in there.

Got a nice texture.

Anchovies, capers, including some of the oil.

(gentle music continues) And while that sauce is cooking, it's time to get these noodles u If I time it well, the sauce wil precisely at the same moment the noodles are.

(laughs) Perfect.

All right.

Ready to serve.

(gentle music continues) - All right, I'm looking forward - This dish is more of a showcas of how great these foraged ingre stand up to some domestic ingred - Ah, I've never thought about it that way, as far as if they can stand up to a domestic ingredient.

So you've been working with both all day, then.

Mm.

Wow, this has got so much kick t I wasn't expecting that.

My eyes are watering.

The juice is just trickling down the back of my throat, I went, "Ah!"

I wasn't ready for this kick.

Perfect, okay.

Well then, tell me what I'm tast because I'm gonna take another s trying to figure it out myself, wow, my nose is coming alive.

- [Paul] (laughs) That's the mus - Mm, mmhm.

- [Paul] I didn't cook it, I just threw it in to let it wil - But I'm getting a really odd flavor combination.

This is what I love about doing this with you is, I just, I've probably had more varying flavors to enjoy since doing this with y than I have in the past many, many years of my life, and this flavor I've got going on right now, I can't pin it down.

I wasn't expecting as much flavor, to be honest with you.

I'm looking at pasta, I'm seeing familiar foods there, I'm seeing feta cheese and olives and tomatoes, and I'm not getting anything that I expected.

I'm getting a completely different and unique flavor.

I think whatever you did for the proportioning, you nailed it to highlight the wild European mustard and the stinging nettle at the s So actually with a cheers, this tea we have is stinging net that I've been heating on the st while you've been cooking, with a touch of honey and a touch of lemon.

- Cheers.

- God, another wonderful wild ha - So delicious.

When I thought of nettle tea, I thought of something that would be quite earthy, you know, along the lines of a b - Yeah, like a green tea, black yeah, right, right.

- That sort of flavor profile.

It's not that way at all.

It's fantastic.

- I feel like the synergy we've been experiencing, and me bringing you these locally foraged ingredients and you creating them into a tremendous meal in the kitchen is really working, and I think that, really, that's one of the awesome challe when you start getting involved in local foraging and bringing the ingredients hom and playing with them in the kit Can you create a dish where the domestic ingredients don't overshadow the wild ingredients, and vice v where the wild ingredients don't overshadow the domestic ingredients.

The key there is finding that perfect blend, that perfect match.

And I think Paul has done it with this pasta dish here.

And then you end up taking plants like wild mustard, stinging nettle, dandelion, and you prove out that they're n (gentle music) They're the wild harvest.

(lively music) If you'd like to continue the wi with me and Chef Paul Rogalski, then please check out our website at wildharvestfilms.com, where we have recipes and forgin along with deleted scenes and ou from the making of "Les Stroud's Wild Harvest."

- [Announcer] Directly inspired by the series, Chef Paul and expert forger Les bring you the "Wild Harvest" season two recipe book.

Highlighting all of Paul's dishe and complete with behind-the-scenes stories, it is available for $29.99.

In addition, a DVD of this seaso is also available for $19.99.

To order, please go to wildharvestfilms.com, "Wild Harvest" TV show on Facebo or "Les Stroud's Wild Harvest" o (gentle music) (wind whistling) (birds chirping) - [Announcer] This program made possible by Forest River.

(gentle music) We have always been dedicated to helping people experience the joy of the outdoors by building a full range of recreational vehicles.

At Forest River, your needs, interest, and lifestyle are at the forefront of everythi Forest River, follow the river.

To learn more, visit ForestRiver (whooshing) (lively music)