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Eco-Friendly Foraging - Plants Walk / Food & Drinks Local Forest
Learn about local edible wild plants!
When and where
Date and time
Saturday, April 1 · 10am - 1:30pm PDT
Location
Reptacular Ranch 8828 Gold Creek Road Sylmar, CA 91342
Refund Policy
About this event
Want to learn about edible plants and help the environment in the process? Did you know what we are surrounded by wild edible plants and most of them are non-native to Los Angeles and actually invasive?
Very often the same plants are crops in some other countries and yet, locally, the solution is to spray them with chemicals or waste this incredible food resource by uprooting and throwing it away. So sad when you realize that a recent study from the University of California Berkeley identified 52 edible weeds growing in abundance in the poorest neighborhoods of San Francisco. At least six of them were found to be more nutritious than kale, according to that study.
Guess what, we'll find most of those nutritious plants during our walk. So let's look at an option that will help the environment, reduce the use of chemicals in nature and nourish us in the process.
In this class, you'll learn about the countless local plants that you can use for food, many of them can be found in your backyard and are considered weed.
We will walk in the local forest (private property in the Angeles Forest), identify and talk about the culinary and medical uses of those plants. The walk is around 1 1/2 hours, very slow with lots of stops to talk about and collect the plants. We'll also talk about native plants, their uses and which ones you could plant at home.
After the class you will be served delicious snacks and drinks featuring the plants we saw during our walk.
Long pants is a good idea - We have poison oak in the area.
Check the weather and make sure you either have sun or rain protection and stay warm.
Location:
We meet in front of a place called Reptacular
8828 Gold Creek Rd, Sylmar, CA 91342
I’ll be there near the entrance to direct you, we park on the side of the road a bit further (don't enter the main gate, just drive a bit further)
34°19'09.9"N 118°19'49.1"W
Time: From 10am to around 1:30 pm
About the organizer
Biography
Pascal Baudar is a writer, naturalist and a self-styled “culinary alchemist” based in Los Angeles. His passion is to study wild edibles and research new culinary uses through ancient and traditional methods of food preservation as well as contemporary cooking techniques. He also did the Master Food Preserving / Food Safety Advisor program at the University of California in 2011.
From 2011 to 2014, his truly unique preserves, drinks and various wildcrafted condiments made their way into the kitchens of such star chefs as Ludo Lefebvre, Josiah Citrin, Ari Taymor, Michael Voltaggio, Chris Jacobson, Matthew Biancaniello (Eat Your Drinks) and Niki Nakayama (N/Naka restaurant)
He has served as a wild food consultant for several TV shows including MasterChef and Top Chef Duels. He has been featured in numerous TV shows and publications, including Time magazine, the Los Angeles Times, L.A. Weekly, and the New York Times.
In 2014, he was named one of the 25 most influential tastemakers in L.A. by Los Angeles magazine and in 2017 as offering one of the most innovative culinary classes.
He is the author of 4 bestselling books - The New Wildcrafted Cuisine (2016) , The Wildcrafting Brewer (2018), Wildcrafted Fermentation (2020) and Wildcrafted Vinegars (2022). He is presently working on a new book related to edible wild seeds and grains.
His next project is related to using wildcrafting and art as tools to explore environmental issues by focusing on invasive and noxious plants with the concept of making food part of the solutions being offered - Not just herbicides or throwing away the resources (food waste).