Taraxacum officinale

Taraxacum officinale

The common Dandelion, Taraxacum officinale, is one of the most well-known wild edible plants. But while it is very nutritious, the leaves are rather bitter. I know about a lot of better tasting leaves, so I seldom eat dandelion.

The flowers, on the other hand, are much better tasting, mild and with a flavor which can almost be called slightly sweet. I used the flowers to make dandelion fritters, which are a classic way to cook dandelions. Simply dip the fresh flowers in batter, and fry in oil. Most of my family described the taste as sweet, while people at work that I shared them with called them bitter, but those people are not used to wild foods.

The flowers usually close at night, and open when the sunlight hits them in the morning. So the best time to collect the flowers is in the morning, about an hour or two after dawn, when the flowers are at their freshest and fully open. They should be used as soon as possible, since they will begin to wilt, and will even go to seed if left for a day or two.

Dandelion flower fritters

I tried a couple different batters. One was half wheat flour and half cornmeal, with enough water to make a thin, runny batter. This resulted in a nice crunchy flower fritter. I also tried a tempura style batter, with equal parts wheat flour and cornstarch in an egg and water base. This results in a smoother fritter, crisp when fresh, but getting softer after a while, which is typical of tempura. The taste was good in both cases, but I preferred the crunchy texture of the cornmeal batter.

The unopened flower buds are also good, and make a nice vegetable to add to stir-fries and similar dishes. For this, make sure the buds are tightly closed at the end. If there is yellow or white poking out the end, they have already opened. They are more difficult to collect than the flowers, because they are small, green, and often still nestled in the base of the leaves. The bright yellow flowers stick up and are very obvious.

As I mentioned before, the leaves are plentiful, common, and easy to identify, because they usually have flowers or seed clusters above them. But they are bitter, so I don't enjoy eating them much. The white bases are a little less bitter, so you can pull up the whole plant, wash the dirt off, and just eat the white center of the leaf rosette.

Celtis reticulata

Celtis Reticulata

Hackberries
(closeup of split seed and fruit)

Celtis reticulata is a small tree which I find mostly at the mouths of canyons in my area. It is commonly known as Net-leaf Hackberry. This species is mainly noticeable because of the leaves. The leaves have a surface texture like sandpaper, and are fairly tough, so that they can stay on the tree all winter. The berries also persist on the tree all winter, which makes it even more noticeable when all the other deciduous trees have lost their leaves. The other distinctive feature of the leaf is the base of the leaf, which joins the leaf stem (petiole) at an angle. Finally, the bark has prominent ridges or bumps, at least on the larger trunks, but these are much more noticeable feature of the larger Celtis occidentalis (common Hackberry) which is found in the eastern United States. Being a small tree makes it easier to gather the berries from my local species.

The fresh, ripe berries are orange, round, less than a centimeter wide, and grow from the axils of the leaves. They have a large seed with a thin layer of yellow fruit. The seed has a hard brown shell, and a white kernel. At this stage they have a fresh, sweet taste which is mildly reminiscent of apricot. 

The berries persist on the tree in the winter and even through the next year, so they can be a source of food in winter and in the early spring. They remain edible all winter because, as Samuel Thayer notes, they are high in sugar and low in water, and also, as noted below, the fruit flesh is resistant to bacteria and fungus infestations. The older berries have a red skin, and persist on twigs without leaves, or with leaves which are old and dry. The fruit dries to a leathery but soft texture, not hard and dry. The old berries are still edible but the taste intensifies. Others who tried it said it tasted sort of like an apricot fruit leather. I thought it tasted like honey-flavored fruit leather, just not nearly as sweet as honey.

The seed is also edible, but the hard shell can be difficult to bite into, especially in old berries. Using a mortar and pestle, two rocks, the flat of a knife, or other grinding appliance is helpful for eating the full berry. This is worth it if you are doing more than just tasting, because the kernel is high in protein and fat, even though it has little flavor. Smashing the fruit and grinding it into a paste gives you a palatable, if rather crunchy, meal.

But a better option for getting the nutrition from this hard seed is to crush it and mix it with water to make "hackberry milk", which is similar to other nut-milks, such as almond milk or cashew milk, but has its own mildly sweet flavor. For convenience, I use a blender, and blend 1 part hackberries with 4 parts water, then strain. The result is a thickish liquid (like milk) which tastes like drinking liquid hackberries. One excellent use for hackberry milk is as a base liquid for Thai Curry (instead of coconut milk). Just mix one tablespoon of red curry paste in 2-4 cups of hackberry milk, and add to your cooked meat and vegetables.

Tree in winter, with
dried leaves and fruits

Botanists placed the Celtis genus in the Elm family (Ulmaceae) based on morphology (physical characteristics). More recently, geneticists have placed it in the Cannabis family (Cannabaceae). Unlike cannabis, there is no evidence of any harmful or psychoactive chemicals, although there is evidence of antibacterial and antifungal activity, as well as antioxidants. This helps the berries stay good on the tree all winter, and also means they can be easily stored for months without refrigeration. Native Americans are reported to have used this plant to treat indigestion.