Interviews
p. 078
In conversation with a winter forager
Dandelion, wild chicory, sea beet: what grows when nothing else does.
Ana Lourenço has foraged the hills behind Sintra for thirty years and supplies wild greens to six restaurants in Lisbon. We walked with her on a grey morning in February, when, she says, most people think there is nothing to find.
What grows in winter?
“The bitter things. Dandelion, wild chicory, sea beet by the coast, sorrel if you are lucky. They come first because nothing else is competing with them.”
How do you start?
“With one plant. Learn it completely — where it grows, what it looks like in every month, what it can be confused with. Then learn the next one. It takes a lifetime and that is the nice part.”
“The bitter leaves come first. They are the ones that clean you out after winter.”
About the writer
Priya Raman
Priya interviews cooks, farmers and grandmothers for the magazine’s Interviews section and records an audio version of each conversation.
Keep reading
Reportage
№ 06
The amaro makers of the Dolomites
Thirty-two herbs, one secret, and a family that hasn’t changed the recipe since 1902.
Words by Luca Ferrante
Essays
№ 06
On learning to like bitter things
Coffee, chicory, grapefruit, grief. Hana Sørlie on the flavours we only understand later.
Words by Hana Sørlie
Recipes
№ 06
Charred radicchio with blood orange
A plate for the end of winter: bitter leaves, sweet fruit and too much good oil.
Words by Kwame Asante