Berries, leaves, roots and edible barks, mosses and lichens: the unsuspected ingredients that nature offers us spontaneously are plentiful, and thanks to foraging they can be transformed into delicious and, above all, healthy dishes.
It is a practice that is increasingly fashionable among those who want to live and eat naturally: it is called foraging and involves gathering wild herbs — and much more besides — in their natural environment, then using them to prepare healthy and delicious dishes. A return to our origins that is also a rediscovery of the world around us, with a heightened awareness of what it can offer us spontaneously. How foraging came about, and where to practise it in the places where it is most widespread.
Some may dismiss it as just another passing trend, but gathering and eating wild herbs and fruits is in fact an ancient custom, a practice that has been carried out since time immemorial. Berries, leaves, roots and edible barks, mosses and lichens, algae and aquatic plants — but also meat and fish, because foraging has nothing to do with vegetarianism, even though most of those who enjoy it "go out for herbs" — are the spoils of long walks in nature, in all its variety. Mountain forests, woodlands, meadows and fields, lake waters, riverbanks and lagoons are all combed with care and thoroughness in search of whatever might become a natural, wholesome ingredient for cooking the way people once did.
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To achieve a fruitful harvest, however, several hours of searching are needed, and at least a basic knowledge of the produce the land can offer is essential. Just as with mushrooms — whose foraging we are more accustomed to — so too with other products of the earth: a grounding in botany is required to avoid coming across inedible herbs or other fruits that could be dangerous to human health. For this reason, guided woodland outings led by experts who can pass on this art and their knowledge to those wishing to learn the hidden secrets of nature's bounty are being organised with increasing frequency.
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Northern European countries are the most accustomed to this kind of activity, but in Italy too there is growing awareness of and interest in eating naturally and healthily, making use of what the land provides, following the seasons and respecting the environment.
In Austria, specifically in Tyrol, foraging is already well established, and it is not uncommon to find mountain huts, alpine dairies and refuges where, alongside the classic offerings of mountain retreats, guests are invited to discover the forest from the perspective of the raw ingredients it can provide. The nature in this area is undeniably lush and rich in magnificent produce, as those who live here know well — people who have thought to "make the most of it", albeit in a natural way, taking their cue from those who have always done so.
This is the idea of Michael Ploner, a young Tyrolean chef who first experimented with foraging in Scandinavia, before putting this art into practice in the kitchen at one of the world's most renowned restaurants, Noma in Copenhagen, where Michelin-starred chef René Redzepi taught him the secrets of cooking with wild herbs. "In these lands," Michael Ploner tells us, conveying great enthusiasm for the career path he has chosen, "foraging is a job like any other — it is done professionally. Every season has its own products to offer, and so does every environment, mountain or otherwise. What matters is a thorough knowledge of the territory and its produce. It is an ongoing activity that teaches us what can be drawn from the surrounding nature, in full respect of it."
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The story of this young enthusiast of foraging and haute cuisine continues in his homeland, the Austrian Tyrol, in the charming village of Nauders, where he returns to put into practice at a local restaurant the knowledge he has gained about this new way of cooking. To do so, however, he draws on the experience and passion of two professional herb gatherers, Rose-Marie and Barbara Waldegger, who share with him all the secrets of the Tyrolean woods. Two people who still live as people once did: Barbara is always in the forest, preferably barefoot, to feel nature more keenly, and she gathers herbs alongside her mother Rose-Marie, aged 76.
Outside their farmhouse, which has belonged to the family since 1700, a large meadow rich in wild herbs stretches out, where they already find much of what they are looking for. Their home, meanwhile, is full of books on herbs and equipment for harvesting and drying. And everywhere there is a pleasant scent of wood, hay, flowers and berries. Fortunately, the two women love sharing their knowledge, and in Nauders every Friday from 9am to 11am they guide guests through their fascinating world: the meeting point is in front of the tourist office and participation is free. Every Thursday at 9am, meanwhile, Barbara — who is a herbalist — teaches how to treat and blend herbs to obtain beneficial body-care ointments (the participation fee for the course is €10).
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The idea that mountain pine, Scots pine or larch could be used in the kitchen is something our culinary culture finds rather hard to grasp, yet elsewhere — particularly in northern European countries — it is becoming increasingly common. So, while in Italy there are still only a handful of places where one can learn this fascinating art, in Tyrol the choice is varied and interesting.
In St. Anton am Arlberg, the WunderWanderWeg is a hiking trail easily walkable in around two hours, near the Sennhütte mountain hut, and allows visitors to discover the positive health effects of certain local herbs. In the Stubai Valley, meanwhile, Sandra Schönherr, owner of the Auffangalm alpine dairy farm, is a qualified herbalist who grows the area's beneficial plants in her garden and uses them in the kitchen. Her workshop and herb garden are open to visitors, and there they prepare beneficial oils, honey and aromatic vinegar together. From the centre of Milders, an easy path through a meadow of aromatic herbs leads to the Auffangalm in around two hours.
Another unmissable place, also for the history that defines it, is the Orto di lldegarda di Bingen: here in 2011 a group of women from Reith began cultivating a botanical paradise covering 900 square metres, following the teachings of the German nun Hildegard of Bingen. The plants are catalogued according to their benefits, so visitors immediately know which herb is best suited to treating the various parts of the body: respiration, joints, mood, skin, heart and liver. The garden is open to the public and guided visits are organised every Wednesday.
In the Kufsteinerland you can go herb-gathering with herbalist Maria Bachmann, on a one-hour guided walk along the 3-kilometre panoramic herb trail. It is an experience for all the senses, in which Maria Bachmann shares her knowledge with visitors and explains harvesting techniques. The herbs are then processed together at the Aschinger Alm mountain hut at an altitude of 1,000 metres, to produce true wellbeing elixirs.