Five years ago, at the Identità Golose congress, the Wood*ing food lab from Monza introduced itself to the world of haute cuisine with a shocking dish.
Title: Culinary Study of an Invasive Bivalve Mollusk.
Execution: Sinanodonta woodiana freshwater clams that arrived from China alongside fishing materials—now choking the habitat of our lakes—dried, smoked, and served on a base of fermented plant milk, along with the sprouts of Reynoutria japonica, a rapidly spreading Japanese ornamental plant that is literally "devouring" the surrounding vegetation as it belongs to the category of invasive wild species.
After the initial shock, the recipe won over even the most skeptical, allowing Valeria Mosca—founder of Wood*ing, a research lab focused on foraging and wild food—to introduce the "simple language of cuisine" into the gourmand universe to convey themes such as sustainability, cooperation with the environment, and the knowledge and protection of biodiversity.
Raised in Brianza, Italy’s most renowned forager, Valeria Mosca, had the "gift" of a beloved maternal grandmother who gathered wild herbs in Val Zebrù.
“As a child, it was normal for her to ask me to go to the garden and pick—say—spruce buds or salsify roots,” says Mosca. This is what’s called the transmission of knowledge, something Mosca treasured when, during her university years (Cultural Heritage studies), she chose an anthropological focus, “thus connected to ethnobotany,” and then decided to explore the practical applications of wild species. “I approached Michelin-starred chef Giancarlo Morelli and asked him to take me into his kitchen. Incredibly, he said yes. Perhaps he thought I would get tired, but instead, I stayed for three years. Seeing my passion, he encouraged me to deepen my research and start experimenting with wild foods in dishes.”
In 2009, Valeria Mosca, now 42, founded Wood*ing, the world’s first food lab focused on the scientific use of wild food in the kitchen. A triumph. “I was lucky because soon after, foraging became a trend, influencing lifestyle, fashion, and leisure.” And, of course, cuisine. Michelin-starred chefs like Norbert Niederkofler, one of many with whom Valeria has collaborated, “went wild for wild food because it allows for an enormous range of new textures and flavors.”
Foraging, in fact, offers an endless array of potential ingredients. “From the high mountains—rich in lichens, tree bark, conifer resins, and mushrooms—to the alpine forest, with its undergrowth plants, roots, and tree leaves. Then there’s the hill country (flowers, herbs, seeds, fruits, roots, aquatic plants) down to the sea, with algae and mollusks.” The discipline focuses on species that can be “gathered, not hunted” in certified, pristine environments.
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