Foraging with Chrissy Tracey and Mohegan elder Chris 鈥淧ainted Turtle鈥� Harris

黑料吃瓜网

Seasoned

Foraging with Chrissy Tracey and Mohegan elder Chris 鈥淧ainted Turtle鈥� Harris

By Robyn Doyon-Aitken ,

Chef Plum, Catie Talarski, Meg Dalton, Tagan Engel, Katrice Claudio, Stephanie Stender

Published June 22, 2023 at 9:26 AM EDT

1 of 9 — Seasoned Foraging

Chef Chrissy Tracey blows the brown outer layer off of a freshly picked fiddlehead before adding it to her bag.

Tyler Russell / 黑料吃瓜网

2 of 9 — Seasoned Foraging

Fiddlehead ferns grow out of 鈥渄ark brown mounds on the ground,鈥� explained chef Chrissy Tracey on a forage with Chef Plum. 鈥淵ou get a shoot of anywhere from five to 12 fiddlehead ferns growing out of that one base.鈥� When foraging, Chrissy snaps the top inch to inch-and-a-half off the stem and harvests only one or two fiddleheads per mound.

Tyler Russell / 黑料吃瓜网

3 of 9 — Seasoned Foraging

Even though the fiddleheads were plentiful in this area, chef Chrissy Tracey still emphasized the importance of harvesting in moderation to ensure the spot will continue to thrive in coming years.

Tyler Russell / 黑料吃瓜网

4 of 9 — Seasoned Foraging

When fiddlehead ferns are plentiful in spring, and abundant in a patch, it can be a challenge not to trample them.

Tyler Russell / 黑料吃瓜网

5 of 9 — Seasoned Foraging

Chef Chrissy Tracey leads the hike back with her bag of foraged fiddleheads in hand.

Tyler Russell / 黑料吃瓜网

The fiddleheads must be blanched before proper cooking can begin.

Chef Chrissy Tracey takes Plum out to forage for fiddleheads.

6 of 9 — Seasoned Foraging

Fiddleheads must be cooked before eating. A quick blanch preps the fiddleheads for cooking and helps them retain their texture and green color during the saut茅 process.

Tyler Russell / 黑料吃瓜网

Saut茅ed fiddleheads with garlic, lemon, and spices. When describing thier flavor, chef Chrissy says, It's very clean. tastes like spring

7 of 9 — Seasoned Foraging

Saut茅ed fiddleheads with garlic, lemon, and spices. When describing their flavor, chef Chrissy Tracey says, "It's very clean. . .I always tell everybody, I think they taste like spring."

Tyler Russell / 黑料吃瓜网

Chris "Painted Turtle" Harris is a Pipe Carrier and ceremonial leader of the Mohegan people

8 of 9 — Chris Painted Turtle 2.jpg

Chris "Painted Turtle" Harris, a Pipe Carrier and ceremonial leader of the Mohegan people, plays a traditional gathering song at Fort Shantok Park on the Mohegan Reservation.

Tagan Engel / 黑料吃瓜网

9 of 9 — Family foraging_Tagan Engel.jpg

From left, Ifadayo Engel-Halfkenny, Enroue Halfkenny, Tomitsela Engel-Halfkenny harvest mulberries in New Haven, CT., June 2022.

Tagan Engel / 黑料吃瓜网

We look at foraging from two perspectives in this episode of Seasoned. What approach do chefs take when foraging? Chef Plum forages for fiddleheads in northwestern 黑料吃瓜网 along the Housatonic River with chef Chrissy Tracey. She explains why she believes foraging is sacred. After their harvest, the chefs head back to Chrissy鈥檚 kitchen to saut茅 the fiddleheads in garlic and lemon.

And, Seasoned contributor/producer Tagan Engel talks with Chris 鈥淧ainted Turtle鈥� Harris about how he, as an herbalist and elder in the Mohegan Tribe, approaches a forage in the forest.

Plus, Tagan, who is also , shares her recipe for , as well as her tips for neighborhood foraging 鈥攚herever you might live.

GUESTS:

: Forager, private chef, content creator, and recipe developer. Her first cookbook, Forage & Feast publishes spring 2024
Chris Harris Painted Turtle: Herbalist, and member of the Council of Elders for the Mohegan Tribe

FEATURED RECIPE:

LEARN MORE:
鈥檚 book, Folk Medicine of the Delaware and Related Algonkian Indians influenced Chris鈥檚 approach to foraging. Gladys co-founded the in Uncasville in 1931. Tour the museum to learn more about the Mohegan people.

Chris also credits herbalist and educator Lupo Passero and the class he took at with deepening his knowledge and understanding of wild plants and herbs.

Follow along as Chris takes a walk in the woods with of , stopping along to offer prayers and explain the meanings behind the Four Directions.

Want to become part of a foraging community? Listen back to our conversation with Amy Demers, founder of the . Amy was recently featured in a CT Public story highlighting New England foragers.

This show was produced by Robyn Doyon-Aitken, Catie Talarski, Meg Dalton, Tagan Engel, Katrice Claudio, Stephanie Stender, Meg Fitzgerald, and Sabrina Herrera.

Join the conversation on , , , and email: seasoned@ctpublic.org.

Seasoned is available as a podcast on , , , , or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode!