[pct-l] Wild Trail Food

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30 years ago I contacted an international food trader and explained  that I 
could get him all the chanterelles he'd ever want...he said there was no  real 
market for them...Grubs can be hard to find..although if you find one it's  
likely that you'll find a number of them nearby. Bracken fronds can be  common 
and there's actually a market for them in Europe where they're made into  
soup...All beetles are edible, or at least I think they all are,but some of them  
can emit a must which tastes worse than cilantro (which tastes awful.)   Long 
horn beetles are large enough to object.  Honey Bees are delightful  morsels, 
but kill them first and remove the stinger.  Be careful with  slugs...they can 
contain internal parasites which are...I assure you...just no  fun at all.  
Best boil them in a pot of water for a few moments where  the will acquire the 
delightful texture and flavor of styrofoam. Anyone  whose been to Mexico knows 
about grasshoppers (pull the wings off...that way  they can't struggle,)  Ants 
have a delightful formic acid sourness about  them...the bigger ones can 
pinch your tongue.  Clean worms  by lightly squeezing the digestive juices out of 
them; scrape off  the external mucus to taste  As for and berries or 
mushrooms...just be  sure you have positively identified them. A lot of things are 
edible but  not very tasty...Oregon grape is quite common in the  Pacific 
Northwest...and the berries are edible but very sour and bitter...I  know people who 
make Oregon Grape jelly..the secret is to realize sugar is  plentiful and 
cheap.  I know the Indians here about used to use Salal as a  spice...I believe the 
leaves are edible.  I have also heard the berries are  poisonous  Tree 
cambium is supposed to be edible but I am not aware of  anyone eating it except that 
it was from a cedar tree. Uh..I hereby legally  deny any responsibility for 
your actions.
 
The most delicious thing found in the woods is the red huckleberry...the  
blue ones taste like sawdust in comparison...When I was young my family would go  
to Lewisville Park outside of Battleground, Washington where red 
huckleberries  would cover the park end to end...I'd gather them up and chaw them 
down..while  the good mothers and fathers picnicking there would demand I stop because 
 they were deadly poison..only resulting in my willingness to tongue a banana 
 slug.



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