Sunday, August 21, 2011

Hunt Is On for 'Chicken Mushrooms' and Other Edibles in Inwood Hill Park

Hunt Is On for 'Chicken Mushrooms' and Other Edibles in Inwood Hill Park

August 3, 2011 9:15am | By Olivia Scheck, DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

"Wildman" Steve Brill will hunt for chicken mushrooms during a tour through Inwood Hill Park in late August. (wildmanstevebrill.com)

MANHATTAN — “Wildman” Steve Brill, New York City’s beloved urban foraging expert, will return to Inwood Hill Park this August in search of exotic edibles from sassafrass root to chicken mushrooms.

Brill, who leads tours in parks throughout the city and across greater New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, said it’s a great time to forage for the poultry-like fungi, which are typically between 5 and 10 pounds and “taste just like chicken” with the right seasoning.

The group will meet on Sunday, Aug. 28, at 11:45 a.m. in a playground located at Dyckman Street and Broadway and continue for 4 hours through the hilly woods of Upper Manhattan.

Other expected finds include lamb’s-quarters (similar to spinach but “more tender, more flavorful and much more nutritious,” according to Brill), black birch twigs (for use in pain-relieving teas) and wood sorrel (which “tastes like lemonade” when brewed).  

Foraging in city parks is officially forbidden, and the Central Park Conservancy's website has an article prominently displayed on its homepage entitled, "How Foraging Damages Park Landscapes."

Read more: http://www.dnainfo.com/20110803/washington-heights-inwood/hunt-is-on-for-chicken-mushrooms-other-edibles-inwood-hill-park#ixzz1U0ALREVa

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