Eating Wild Louisiana: A Walk with Forager John Nettles

Story, photos and recipes by Cynthia Nobles ​

When purple bird droppings begin appearing on my tomato plants, I know that the mulberries are ripe. A gnarly-trunked mulberry tree grows down a gravel road by my house, and every spring it produces clusters of dark purple berries that ooze with juice.
            
Spring is also prime time for searching along the fence in a nearby field for wild dewberries, which is not the same as blackberries, which ripen along another field a few weeks later.  
            
Throughout the years that I’ve strolled the pastures and woods on my family’s farm, I’ve always kept an eye out for wild edibles. John Nettles, an experienced forager and naturalist from Baton Rouge, shares my curiosity and love of dining on the unexpected.
            
John works as a digital marketer, but he spends his spare time running Slowhike Company, through which he conducts foraging walks throughout rural south Louisiana. “In college I worked in lots of restaurants,” he told me. “My interest in cooking led me to learn about what wild foods grow in Louisiana’s forests.” 

​I recently caught up with John at a wooded area outside Baton Rouge. A few yards from our cars he bent over and picked up a small cluster of pink flowers. The delicate flowers grew on square stems surrounded by saw-toothed, heart-shaped leaves. I’d seen that plant all my life and always thought it was nothing more than a weed. 

“This is dead nettle,” John said. “It’s a member of the mint family.” Turns out that the plant’s leaves are edible and highly nutritious. They’re somewhat bitter, but are good in salads and scrambled eggs, and are often brewed to make a tea that supposedly stops spring allergies. 

A few steps away near a small pond stood a “weed’ that I definitely recognized, and always mowed down — a thistle. “Lots of people in south Louisiana call this a chadron,” John said, referring to the French word for thistle. “They taste like sweet celery. Pick them while they’re young, while they don’t have flowers yet.” Peel the stalk of the thistle and eat it raw, sauteed, or pickled.  

Ten feet into the woods and John pointed out another small flower, this one with five dark purple petals and heart-shaped leaves. “It’s a wild violet,” he said. “The whole thing is edible.” Wild violet leaves are good in salads and to make tea. The flowers are used for garnishes, in salads, and to make jelly. 

We meandered down a path that wound through oak and native pecan trees. In a sunny clearing John found a stand of wood sorrel, a plant that looked like tall clover. With their tart, lemony flavor, fresh wood sorrel leaves and flowers are good in salads and cooked. 

Another tasty-looking plant we stumbled on were tiny Indian strawberries. He then explained that the may apple’s leaves are not edible, but that the plant’s yellow, soft, fully ripened fruit tastes like potato. 

We turned around, heading out the woods and discussed even more wild edibles that grow in Louisiana. “Dandelion leaves are full of vitamins A and C,” he said. “Almost everybody who grew up in the country has a story about wild onions, muscadines, and wild persimmons. And we all ate honeysuckle nectar as kids.” We also talked about the mango-like fruit of the pawpaw tree, and making cherry bounce from wild black cherries and whiskey.

We came across a yaupon holly. “This shrub was the only caffeine-producing plant Native Americans had,” John said, picking a few of the plant’s small oval leaves. “Don’t eat the berries, they’re poisonous. But you can dry the leaves and make a tea. It’ll have as much caffeine as green tea.”
 
A few feet away John bent down and excitedly pointed out a decaying log and a group of slightly shriveled oyster mushrooms peeking up from the log’s backside. “They’re a little dessicated,” John said, referring to their dryness. “But you can certainly eat them.”

Other edible mushrooms common in Louisiana forests are chanterelles, morels, wood ear, and the stunningly shaggy-spined lion’s mane. “Mushrooms thrive in Louisiana’s warm, humid climate. They grow here during the summer and fall,” John says. “But remember that many varieties are poisonous. Always get two experts to identify a mushroom before you eat it.”

Our walk ended with John cautioning that any consumable plant harvested from the wild must not have been sprayed with chemicals, and should always be properly identified. He’ll be happy to help anyone determine if their bounty is edible. He’ll also be glad to take you on a tour where wild and delicious things grow. Just text him at 225-205-5515, or email him at [email protected]. 
        

Do you have a Louisiana agriculture story or a recipe you’d like to share? Contact me at [email protected].
 

Cynthia Nobles is the cookbook editor for LSU Press and the author/co-author of several historical cookbooks, including A Confederacy of Dunces Cookbook, The Delta Queen Cookbook, and The Fonville Winans Cookbook.


Sauteed Chadron (Thistle)
Makes 2 servings
 
The hollow stalks of the upright, thorny thistle (sticker bush) that grows along our roads and ditches was an important vegetable for Louisiana’s early Acadians. Peeled young stalks are good raw or cooked. (It’s always a good idea to work with heavy gloves when handling thistle.)
 
5 wild thistle stalks (young plants are best)
2 tablespoons butter
Salt and pepper
 
1. Use a sharp knife to cut off the thorny leaves from the stalks. Scrub the stalks thoroughly, then carefully slice off the outer skin. Cut stalks into ¼-inch slices.
2. Heat butter in a skillet set over medium high heat until melted and hot. Add sliced thistle and sauté until thoroughly heated through and beginning to brown, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve hot.  
 
 
Pasta with Lion’s Mane Mushrooms
Makes 2 servings
 
The lion’s mane mushroom is large, white, and shaggy, and it soaks up sauces beautifully. Its taste is sweet and savory and resembles seafood. If you can’t find lion’s mane in the wild, a few farmers’ markets and grocery stores carry it fresh, along with other hard-to-find mushrooms like morels, chanterelles, and wood ear, which are all good in this recipe.
 
2 cups uncooked spiral or penne pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups chopped fresh tomato
½ cup seafood or chicken stock
Salt, black pepper, and cayenne
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter
½ pound fresh lion’s mane mushrooms, separated into small pieces
 
1. Start preparing pasta according to package directions. While pasta is cooking, heat oil in a saucepan set over medium heat and cook the onion until translucent, about 5 minutes. To the onion, add garlic and sauté 30 seconds. Add tomato and stock, along with salt, black pepper, and cayenne to taste. Cook until tomatoes are completely soft, 10-15 minutes.
2. Using a regular or immersion blender, carefully puree the tomato mixture. Return to the saucepan and stir in the cream. Bring to a simmer, then remove from heat.
3. Melt the butter in a small skillet set over medium-high heat. Toss in the lion’s mane and cook until tender and brown on the edges, 3-5 minutes. Add the lion’s mane to the sauce and bring to a simmer. Combine the sauce and the cooked pasta. Serve hot.


Mulberry or Blackberry Tart
Makes 1 (10-inch) tart
 
To take off the notoriously suborn mulberry stems, freeze the berries, then snap the stems right off. 
 
1 unbaked pie crust, homemade or frozen and defrosted
5 cups mulberries or blackberries, fresh or frozen
1¼  cups sugar
Cornstarch (4 tablespoons for fresh mulberries, 5 tablespoons for frozen)
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
 
1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 425°F. Between 2 floured sheets of wax paper, roll out the dough into a 13-inch circle. Fit the dough into the bottom and sides of a 10-inch tart pan. Prick the bottom of the shell all over with a fork. Line the shell with foil and fill it with raw rice or pie weights. Bake 12 minutes. Remove the rice and foil and bake until light brown, another 6 or so minutes. Remove to a wire rack while making the filling.
3. Heat the oven to 375°F. Put the tart pan with the partially baked crust on a foil-lined baking sheet. To make filling, in a large saucepan, combine mulberries, sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil over medium heat. Turn heat to medium low and cook until thick like jam, about 5 minutes.
4. Pour hot filling into the crust and bake until bubbly, about 20-25 minutes. Cool completely before serving.
 
 
Dandelion Tea
Makes 1 cup
 
Every part of the incredibly nutritious dandelion is edible. Leaves can be used in salads, and roots can be roasted and ground and used as a coffee substitute. Dandelion tea is a diuretic, and it also interacts with some medications, so check with your doctor before consuming this tea.
 
½ cup loosely packed yellow dandelion petals (not the bitter green part)
1 cup boiling water
 
Rinse the petals well and place them in a tea ball. Place the ball in a cup, cover it, and let steep 10 minutes. Remove the tea ball and drink the tea hot or over ice.