Foraging with the Wildman

At a recent party, a friend shared a joke she picked up from stand-up comedian Erin Foley who said, “The most depressing book title I ever saw was Vegan Cooking for One. No meat, no dairy, no friends.” It still makes me giggle, though not in the same way since I met Steve Brill.

On a sunny late Sunday morning on Dyckman Street, he extended his right hand and said,”Nice to meet you, I’m the Wildman,” without an ounce of sarcasm. I placed my hand in his grasp and wished that I had a cool title, too.

“I’m Danielle and that’s Rocco,” I replied, my canny little terrier already procuring head pats from the group gathering to spend the afternoon foraging in Inwood Hill Park.

“Wildman” Steve Brill is a self-made New York institution. For more than 30 years, he’s been leading tours of New York City parks, showing his disciples which sidewalk weeds and tree-stump mushrooms are actually edible.

He shot to fame in 1986 when he was arrested in Central Park for eating a dandelion. It was part of a sting operation put in motion by former Parks Commissioner Henry Stern, who was tired of this guy showing people how to pick through his parks. The story was widely covered in papers both local and abroad, and the Wildman’s cult was born. All ended well when Stern decided it was a better idea to hire the Wildman to lead sanctioned tours.

Combing through the old newspaper clippings that covered the incident, I noticed that the Wildman is still charging the same $20 for his tours that he did more than 25 years ago. A bargain! And a lot of fun, too. After a brief intro, the group set off, first scouring the edges of Inwood Hill for curly dock and dandelion. As we approached the river, we were introduced to garlic mustard (which Rocco discovered on his own, munching on it straight from the ground).

To say the Wildman is passionate about nature is a little like saying Jon Hamm is sort of good-looking. And it’s almost hard to believe that this avid naturalist has a Queens accent so thick you could cut it with a knife and spread it on a bagel.

I exchanged the time spent doing my own foraging to watch the Wildman ripple with enthusiasm as he ripped a candelabra of twigs out of the dirt to reveal the roots of the sassafras tree, then carve off a creamy slice so that we could each taste the flavor of root beer. He again shared his excitement over lunch when he passed around a sample of his curry sunflower seeds and a spoonful of vegan vanilla ice cream served from a thermos.

The highlight of the hunt for me was the daylily discovery. You know those orange flowers, often mistakenly called tiger lilies, that grow by the side of the road? Well, they are a completely edible Asian species, consumed widely in China, and are invasive–which means we should freely pick their shoots, sauté them, and enjoy them in abundance.

The Wildman did caution us, though, that one out of about every fifty people will experience digestive “distress,” so start with a small portion of daylily shoots before feasting. Later this spring, the flowers (which last a day, hence the name) can also be fried and eaten. Our friend Hank Shaw has a detailed article about cooking with daylilies over at Hunter Angler Gardener Cook.

I asked the Wildman if he was entirely vegan and he replied, “Yes, except for cattail, horsetail, and mousetail.” In addition to a huge bank of knowledge and an upcoming iPad app, he’s also got a stockpile of well-worn jokes, which are sure to keep even the most carnivorous among us entertained.