Secret Recipe: Persian Trouts and Fir Tip Pilaf

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Persian Trouts and Spruce Tip Pilaf: Forage with Your Family!

I love going into the woods alone, blending into the landscape as I pluck bright green spruce tips or simply sit amongst the trees and listen. Mary Oliver summed up this feeling absolutely perfectly: 

“How I go to the woods

Ordinarily, I go to the woods alone, with not a single

friend, for they are all smilers and talkers and therefore 

unsuitable.

I don’t really want to be witnessed talking to the catbirds 

or hugging the old black oak tree. I have my way of 

praying, as you no doubt have yours. 

Besides, when I am alone I can become invisible. I can sit

on the top of a dune as motionless as an uprise of weeds, 

until the foxes run by unconcerned. I can hear the almost

unhearable sound of the roses singing.

If you have ever gone to the woods with me, I must love

you very much.”

It’s so true- time in the woods alone is deeply precious. But as much as I love the quiet meditation of solo foraging, there is a lot to be said for taking your loved ones with you. 

Sharing your love of foraging with your children or your friends opens them up to the bountiful wonders ahead of them! I have always loved the woods, but I treasure them even more now that I can recognize the endless bounty they contain. Learning to forage is like looking through a new lens; one that shows sparkles of curiosity and wonder amidst the lovely views! Once you get a taste of the many flavors of wild edibles, you’ll start seeing them more and more as you hike or wander, like old friends reappearing when you least expect them. What a beautiful thing to share with those you love; they’ll never look at the woods the same way either! Of course, not everything is suitable for the very youngest of foragers, and it is important to talk about why you can’t put anything and everything you find in your mouth (my poor parents had this conversation with me many, many times.) But spruce and fir tips are easy to recognize and easy to pick - just be sure to read the foraging and safety guidelines below! 

I grew up in a very outdoorsy family, which is no doubt where my deep love of foraging originated. We’d go morel hunting in the spring and feral apple picking in the fall, seasonal rituals that I always looked forward to. And now that I have been an avid forager for years, I love to take my parents out and return the gift they bestowed on me: reverence and wonder for the wild. Whether I go with my family, my partner, or my friends, sharing this passion of mine fills me with utter delight. It’s even better when we can come home and cook up something extraordinarily tasty. 

This light summer dish is the epitome of a weekend in the mountains in early summer. I was lucky enough to grow up in such a paradise, and one of my family’s favorite evening rituals was to take the canoe out onto a small lake and fish while reading each other books aloud (yes, we were incredibly wholesome.) Some nights we wouldn’t catch anything, but would soak in the cool evening air and watch the damselflies land on the edge of the canoe. Other evenings, we’d have to set the book aside to pull in our catches! But either way, it was never a waste of time. Those memories of time spent on the lake with my family are absolute treasures to me now. 

Sometimes I’d set aside my fishing rod and just watch the landscape flow by, spruce and firs highlighted by halos of new growth. During day hikes, I’d happily nibble on the spruce tips and fir tips  we came across. Spruce needles are intensely bitter and resinous (not to mention sharp and tough!), but the tender new growth has a pleasant citrus-like tartness that is soothing and refreshing. Every tree tastes a little bit different; some are more like grapefruit, while others have a distinct lemon flavor. Conifer tips are the taste of nostalgia, childhood, and the woods I love so deeply. They also happen to accent the flavors of fresh trout absolutely wonderfully! 

Some wild mint, gathered from streambanks. Feral fennel growing nearby. A couple of fresh nectarines from the farm stand. That is the base of an elegant and delicious summer dinner. 

Foraging Conifer Tips: 

All spruce and fir tips are edible, and it can be really fun to compare the different flavors from different species, or even individual trees! You want to forage them when they are young and tender, usually a lovely bright yellow-green in color.  Be confident in your identification, however: yew has similar needle-like leaves and is very toxic. Also, as a general rule, pregnant and nursing people should avoid ingesting conifers of any kind. 

This recipe is a delightful ode to summer’s bounty. Fresh-caught trout are stuffed with fresh green herbs, stone fruits, and dried currants steeped in pomegranate molasses. A drizzle of saffron butter adds floral complexity, and they lay on a bed of rice pilaf filled with the fresh forest flavors of tender conifer tips and toasted pine nuts. A saffron and spruce tip aioli is the perfect finishing touch for this summertime feast.

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