Friday, May 19, 2017

Cherem sha! Eating wild plants on Kamchatka

Mostly what I remember as a child was being afraid of the possible poisonous nature of wild plants [I do remember collecting black walnuts from the tree up behind my grandma's house].  That all changed when I started working in the field on Kamchatka.

I did not go skiing yesterday in order to pick cherem sha -- two activities that are basically mutually exclusive.  I was on my last day of lowland skiing, knowing today it would rain heavily.  After a long, wonderful day of classic cross-country on snowy trails as well as nearly snow-barren ground that had been thick with snow through April, I broke through a snow bridge into a big puddle, and that was the end of my skiing.  As I removed my skis and cleaned them up, I noticed green shoots poking out of the ground on the side of the trail -- was it? It was!  --cherem sha, aka wild garlic, or ramps.  I became so enthralled with my gathering that I almost missed the last bus back into town, leaving behind hugs patches of cherem sha.
19 May 2017 on the Lesnaya sport ski trail (snow
patch in distance).  Snow retreats, wild garlic advances!
I first learned about cherem sha on a wayward backpacking trip in June in the early 2000s.  It was to be a recreational trip to Nalichevo hot springs, with a trail along the Perevalnaya River. But we -- my friend Sasha Storcheus (RIP) and I -- started on the wrong side of the river, crossing a bridge we should not have crossed, and wandered the back country for three days.  I had packed typical American-style backpacking food, mostly dehydrated, including "soyevo myasa" (dried soy meat).  I carried a liter of water, Sasha carried none because Russians don't, especially when the hike is planned along a river valley.  Instead we spent much of the day on a dry ridge, descending into a dry valley.  That's when I learned about birch sap.  Sasha took his axe (Russians always have an axe), slashed a birch, put a piece of grass into the slash and dripped sap into a cup.  We went on to camp in a wetter spot, and as I prepared supper, I said I wished I had brought some condiments, and Sasha pulled up some cherem sha that was within reach of the campfire, and our soy meat became much tastier.  Finally, on our way back down the trail, we came across paparotnik -- fiddlehead ferns, and I collected a bunch which Sasha taught me how to prepare once back in town.

Beach pea http://arcadianabe.blogspot.ru/
2014/09/beach-pea-elusive-edible.html
Cherem sha is the first to sprout up in the spring and can be found in cool spots at least into July.  I remember a salad we made of cherem sha leaves when we were at Mutnaya Bay.  We had salt and oil, and a squeezed lemon had washed ashore from a nearby ship, and we managed to get some lemony flavor out of it for our salad.  The other "local salad" that's common in our field is morskaya kapusta, (literally sea cabbage) -- a kind of kelp, Laminaria.  I remember the first time I had it, in our 1998 field at Soldatskaya Bay, prepared by Vanya Storcheus.  A third potential salad ingredient is the beach pea (Lathyrus japonicus) -- the name for pea in Russian is "gorokh," but we always just call this "beach pea."  Mostly we just shuck the peas on the spot and eat them, but occasionally we bring some back to camp to add to soup or salad.  There has been some question about edibility of beach peas; unless they are your staple diet, they are not dangerous.

Puchka grows really tall.  This picture is from the web:
http://s.fishki.net/upload/post/201506/30/1581387/getimage.jpg
A food I haven't eaten but which has been used as a food staple by indigenous peoples is the bulb of the local lily, sarana or saranka.  Another of their commonly used plants, puchka (Heracleum dulcewe have on occasion cooked and eaten--the stems are are celery-like. Puchka is one of bears' favorite vegetables.  It is also commonly our nemesis in the field, especially on sunny days -- its leaves produce a phototoxic chemical -- a reason you have to cover your skin while bushwacking and hiking amongst tall plants, even wearing gloves.  I tend to stomp it down in front of me--take that, puchka!  Only once I got a burn on my shin when we had a "vacation day" and I wore pedal pushers around camp. I have heard others' horror stories, though.

A fire-blackened teapot with a compote mix of
rose hips (shipovnika), ryabina (mountain ash), and a
few blueberries (I think golubika but many zhimolost')
photo by Bre MacInnes, 2005 Mutnaya Bay
If I maintain a relatively seasonal narrative, I should mention that the fresh tips of kedrach (Pinus sibirica) a shrub pine, are edible and supposed to be good for you.  I've tried them, I'm not a big fan. And kedrach is terrible to bushwack, it pariticularly challenged us in south Kamchatka.  On the other hand, in the autumn, kedrach cones generate wonderful pine nuts.  Another shrub with an edible part is a wild rose whose species name I thought I knew (Rosa nootkatensisuntil I read this.  In any case, I was told early on that rose petals from this rose make a good jelly/jam, but I never have been successful making it, so instead, in the field, I commonly just pluck the leaves and eat them--especially good when spotted with dew; careful to exclude insects...  This is another plant that have an autumn bonanza, in this case, rose hips, which are collected by locals for winter tea and vitamin C.

What's left (in my incomplete knowledge) are two giant categories -- berries and mushrooms/fungus (the latter including chaga).  Each one deserves its own write-up/blog (not to mention fish, fowl and meats), especially my absolute favorite brusnika, so I will just write about that one for now, after a short introduction to other berries.  In order of appearance/ripeness, in my experience the first berries we can pick and eat are shiksha, or crowberries -- another staple of indigenous diets, not very sweet or tasty, though with ripeness they are better; make excellent ingredients in berry pancakes, when that's all you have.  Next come blueberries, I can't determine which first, but the first I picked were zhimolost', a blimp-shaped blueberry with a fabulous taste and a deep purple stain; the other is golubika, a low-growing, classic-appearing blueberry [note that my experience is mostly coastal].  In the peat bogs, relatively early, you can find maroshka, known to us as cloudberries; they are ripe when they become pale pink-yellow, from a darker red-orange, and they taste a bit like yogurt or ice cream.  A late bog berry is, of course, the bog cranberry, kliukva -- I only managed to harvest kliukva once in a September field in Soldatskaya Bay, 2003.  Another later berry is ryabina, or mountain ash -- not particularly edible but can be used in jams and compote; commonly quickly gets riddled with bugs; grows in bunches that bears just trim off the bushes, including really near my tent one year.  Most of these berries are familiar in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, especially Alaska, but I was surprised that Kamchatka does NOT have salmon berries.

These brusnika are not quite ripe...
photo by Bre MacInnes
Finally, my favorite brusnika -- best known in the western world by its Swedish name lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea).  It is also called "low bush cranberry" and a bunch of other names, it grows in tundra-like conditions, including on our old beach ridges.  It ripens in the late summer, and you have to pay attention, because it can look red above and still be quite green on the underside.  A deep red is what you are looking for.  
Bre with fresh brusnika,
inset of freeze-dried version
And/but if you are lucky earlier in the summer, you can find brusnika "freeze-dried" from the previous year -- I remember at least a couple times where there were enough naturally freeze-dried brusnika that we could collect them to share or to cook with; they can be a bit fermented, which is fun, too.   Brusnika have a flavor akin to bog cranberry but more intense.  When freshly picked, they have lots of pectin, so the only decent thing to do is add a little sugar, bring to a boil (no water!) and eat by the spoonful with tea.  Second best is to do the same and put on bread or pancakes or in blini -- with smetana (sour cream, which we don't have in the field), omg.  Brusnika freeze well and are commonly available in markets here in Petropavlovsk, so I am enjoying them here this winter.





27 comments:

  1. what was your grandmas name mine is suzie sheep

    ReplyDelete
  2. In case you are searching for acceptable Corporate Governance Law Essays, at that point you can depend on GreatAssignmenthelp.com for getting you premium Corporate Governance Law Assignment Help. Enormous Private Corporations and Companies should be directed by the administration and for that reason, they require certain principles, guidelines, and rules.

    ReplyDelete
  3. 6 Dollar Essay In the US allows students to finish their essay writing papers on time without taking any mistakes. If you want to submit mistake free essays in your college & universities, you must think about online essay writing company in US.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Experience in writing plays an important role while preparing a significant essay. It helps you to develop critical thinking skills that can help in producing a custom essay writing paper. We have the professional essay writers who are exceedingly experienced and are have completed their higher academics in flying colours. Their achievements enable them to provide services without any limitations. Providing you with timely deliverance is our prime consideration.

    ReplyDelete
  5. We offer bioinformatics homework help support 24x7 throughout the year. You can access us at any time to solve your problems.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yes, I agree with your post. It contains very important data and I use it as my personal guide. 95% posts of your post are useful for me and thank you so much for sharing this wonderful idea with us! Check this out too you will love it too! airtel daily data plan

    ReplyDelete
  7. I really agree with the ideas you present here. They are really convincing. Nice content. Apon Online

    ReplyDelete
  8. This post is top-notch. I will share the link with a group of friends. Deep Love Messages for Her

    ReplyDelete
  9. This is a very useful and important information, it was so useful to me and other readers, thank you for always feeding the readers with interesting and useful information, your blog is indeed doing very well, kudos, meanwhile you can checkout this beautiful good morning message for her

    ReplyDelete
  10. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is a so very useful article content to me and I like this topic information. This site has lots of advantage and very beneficial to everyone. I found many interesting things from this website many others blogs and, It helps me in many ways. Thanks for posting this again and Keep sharing more others stuff. cheap assignment help australia - Assignment Help in Adelaide - Assignment Help in Perth - Online Assignment helper

    ReplyDelete
  12. Some really interesting details you have written your many blogs and, Your post is very interesting and so useful to anyone. Reading was so much educational about many niche. I think the reason reading is educate is because it is a releases related to that I am interested in. Thank you so much for this sharing. I am really big fan of your skills. english homework help- engineering assignment help - marketing assignment help

    ReplyDelete
  13. HACCP is abbreviated as Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points. It is a technique that is accepted internationally for preventing biological, chemical and physical hazards in the food safety system. HACCP Certification in Sri Lanka | PRP-OPRP| food safety through managing critical control points|Contact: enquiry@iascertification.com. Call @ +6531591803 or visit our blog https://iasiso-asia.com/LK/haccp-certification-in-sri-lanka/

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi, I really enjoyed reading your post, and hope to read more. Thank you so much for sharing this. interview follow-up email after 2 weeks

    ReplyDelete
  15. Great website.  A lot of useful  information here. I’m sending it to several friends and  also sharing in delicious. And obviously, thanks in your effort! Check out wells fargo pre approval credit card 

    ReplyDelete
  16. amazing exactly what i was searching for great content keep up the good work. Tylerthecreatormerch

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wow! This was an incredibly wonderful post. Many thanks for providing these details. sba grant application 2021

    ReplyDelete
  18. Thank you for your time for this wonderful read!! I definitely enjoyed every bit of it and I also have you bookmarked to check out new stuff in your site. Thank you so much for sharing. visit us: mcpherson university cut off mark for history and diplomatic studies

    ReplyDelete
  19. To put it simply, a grantee is the person in a transaction who receives something – aka the buyer. learn real estate investing In terms of a real estate transaction, the grantee receives ownership of the property after the closing process ends. what is grantee

    ReplyDelete
  20. Nice great post keep writing.Meaning of affect is that to act on and change or do impact on something.For instance example of affect room affected by fire,farmer effective by drought,junk food affeted our body and meaning of effect is resulit of the change and consequence too. example of effect ,people have to understand effects of smoking.Wnat to learn more about difference between affect and effect go to my website.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Nice and interesting post,I appreciate your hard work,keep uploading more, Thank you for sharing valuable information.
    https://ericemanuelshop.com/eric-emanuel-shorts/

    ReplyDelete

  22. The information given in this blog is very nice.
    corpsemerch.net

    ReplyDelete

  23. This is a very nice blog and learned more knowledge to read this post thanks for sharing this informative post.

    https://shophoodies.co.uk/

    ReplyDelete
  24. Impressive! I like what you wrote. This is good post will teach you about that will be very useful to you and will make learning
    an 1 | the trail mod apk | dungeon quest mod apk

    ReplyDelete
  25. frontier jfk terminal is located in Terminal 5 at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. This terminal serves as the main hub for Frontier Airlines, offering passengers a range of budget-friendly travel options. With a modern and efficient layout, the Frontier JFK Terminal features various amenities including food courts, retail shops, and comfortable seating areas. It provides a streamlined, no-frills experience, in line with Frontier's commitment to low-cost flying. Additionally, the terminal is well-connected to JFK's transportation system, offering easy access to the AirTrain, taxis, and other ground transportation options.
    frontier jfk terminal
    What Terminal is Delta Airlines
    condor rollstuhlservice
    delta terminal las vegas

    ReplyDelete