Bark and weeds

Today's menu: appetiser—bark, second course—weeds. Who will be the highest bidder? But who would even eat this? What about … bark with caviar and weeds with truffles? This would work, but why and, more to the point, how? The second part of the question has a clear answer: Fry bark in butter, place on a plate and put caviar on top. Use weeds to prepare a salad and grate some aromatic delicacy over it.

 

As for why …

 

First, because birch bark with caviar was eaten in Siberia, not as a culinary masterpiece but more or less to alleviate daily hunger. And because almost all of the so-called weeds are edible and a couple of times more nutritious than even the most ecologically grown vegetables, not to even mention the industrially grown ones that are below par. Even in terms of flavour, cultivated vegetables can hardly compare to them. And their strength and meaning only increase by grating or adding some, for them untraditional, white or black truffles on top.

 

As a matter of fact, neither bark nor weeds are less valuable than caviar and truffles. Just like these two prestigious ingredients, bark and weeds are something special as well. They have great potential to make us re-evaluate what we think we know and show us what we are convinced is food from another point of view. Plus, we are nicely full after the meal and feel strong.

 

The thing is, all of the ingredients in these perhaps unusual dishes are wild, at least originally. Caviar can now also be obtained from farmed fish and truffles are also being cultivated rather successfully, but in essence this is the untamed wild, even though on a plate. This is the ancient taste of food that we ate when we weren't here yet. Even a mammoth passed by from time to time and especially larvae and insects, not to mention well-tested plant shoots, buds and leaves from the wild garden. The latter is still here; in fact, it's paradise-like. It’s not that we've forgotten about it, we just don't remember it.

 

Bark with caviar

 

Bark of various trees can be used, such as hazel, beech or spruce. Separate the cambium, i.e. the soft inner layer of bark right next to the woody trunk from the hard outer bark and cut into pieces. Fry in melted butter or oil. Place on a plate and put caviar on top.

 

 

Weeds with truffles

 

Mix weeds in a bowl, chickweed can serve as a very good basis. Add olive oil, a pinch of salt and some grated truffle—don't be too stingy. Mix. Decorate and add extra aroma by grating some more truffle on top.