Connoley Rob - Acorns & Cattails: a Modern Foraging Cookbook of Forest, Farm & Field

Foraging has real and potential hazards and risks. Consult your local foraging experts to ensure that plants have been properly and safely identified prior to consumption. Many false plants may be confused for safe-to-eat plants. This book is not a plant identification book. It is a narrative and a cookbook. Be smart and be safe.

Copyright 2016 by Rob Connoley

Photographs copyright 2016 by Jay Hemphill

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover & interior design by Laura Klynstra

Cover photo credit: Jay Hemphill

Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-0968-3

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-0962-1

Printed in China

IN MEMORIAM

Mina Yamashita

The champion of all champions

Steven Shaw

Without whom this book would not exist

CONTENTS

Ginger Horehound Cookies

FOREWORD

by Andrea Feucht

I could be wrong. But Im not. CHEF ROB CONNOLEY , early 2014

I ts a recent evening in late spring, in a modest home in Silver City, New Mexico. The dining room table is flanked with papers (mostly bills) and a laptop, but each place setting holds a plate of Salad Nioise, garnished with pickled onions, freshly steamed asparagus, and tender Italian tuna. The chef serving this meal is not Rob Connoley of the Curious Kumquat, but rather his partner in life and cooking adventures, Tyler Connoley. Both of them are critiquing the tinned tuna and the doneness of the asparagus, as they are wont to do, with the caring that comes out of passion. Just as many happy friendships involve a little bickering, so goes the relationship with a chef and his dishes.

When they met, Tyler was a capable gourmet home cook and Rob, a curious international dabbler; the desire and ability to cook from scratch was mutual. After they moved to Silver City, both worked full time, but Robs kitchen tinkering grew into a life of its own at the inspiration of a little online community called eGullet. He participated in pastry challenges and discussed his life in a small town as a self-taught cook. All the while the makings of the Curious Kumquat were taking root.

Like countless businesses before it, the Curious Kumquat came from real problems begging for solutions. First, Robs lament was, I cant buy good cheese in Silver City. The Cut the Cheese Club began in 1999, giving Rob a means to gather enough folks together to buy fancy cheeses so hed be able to justify buying some himself. Other gourmet ingredients followed, and Rob had himself a little store in 2002. In 2006, the Curious Kumquat became a full-blown gourmet grocery in its own renovated building, supplying hot giardiniera and chestnuts in syrup to customers all over the region. Before long, Rob added prepared foods and cooking classes to the offerings.

Around this time, I met Rob via eGulletenjoying both his well-documented experiments, like meat-based desserts, and his writing in general. One day, I finally noticed he was in New Mexico just like me. Despite being four hours away, I was suddenly excited and wanted to meet this dude. He was just beginning to serve caf food at the store; I made the trip down to meet him and take cooking classes. I wondered how to write his story to really show him off to the culinary world.

While enjoying the local community and surrounding wild lands (which included the Gila Wilderness) and brainstorming ingredients, something clicked in Robs head. He says, I recognized that the Apaches were here for a long, long time and didnt head south for the winter. Thats when I realized there must be plenty of food year-round in the Gila. Once Rob learned from local mentors (see Building a Foraging Team, with experimental dinners several times per year. These events were a win-win for everyone involved. Fans were happy to fork over a lump of cash for anything Rob had up his sleeve, no questions asked. Rob took that confidence (and money) and blew his creative wad on crazy experiments like beet caviar or clay-packed bison sweetbreads with pickled juniper berries. We all loved it.

Except for the headcheese. Dont ask about that.

Back in the caf, regular three-course tasting dinners were added in 2010, using techniques and inspiration gathered from the experimental dinners. Robs goal of becoming a one-man revolution in modernist cuisine was always on his mind. A tiny town like Silver City had just as much reason to have a nationally recognized restaurant as any other place. Period.

Even in those rarest of recipes that dont turn out how Rob wants, youll find excitement. There are things to learn, flavor components to rejigger and tweak, and all of us are along for the delicious ride. Declare your belief in Robs cookery on the edge by fastening your safety belt and stepping toward the ledge

INTRODUCTION

T he phone rings in my restaurant kitchen. I answer in a loud voice to overpower the racket of compressors and fans: Im busy, whats up?

The voice on the other end says, Ive caught a raccoon. Awkward pause. Interested?

How the hell did I become the collector for every piece of crap, living or dead, that gets pulled out of the forest? I didnt sign on to be the clean-up team at wildlife murder scenes, and I certainly dont want to be your dirt-shoveling gardener. But I grit my teeth and say, Sure. Ill take it.

And such is the life of a modern foraged food chef. In a country that thinks foraging means dumpster diving, and most guests are sure youre doing it to save a few pennies on ingredients, Ive been correcting the misguided notions of both customers and fellow chefs for years.