Eating in the Forest: 2012 Highlights

I am back in North America, breathing the fresh and cool air, after an adventure-filled year in tropical Costa Rica. Although I am recuperating from changing seasons, a diet change is by far my most interesting adjustment. As I re-experience winter comfort crops, I reminisce about how different my diet was only days ago when I was foraging in and around a lush tropical rainforest.

Here are my 2012 forest food highlights (all are organic!):

1. CHOCOLATE

Cacao beans - these seeds can be eaten or ground into a paste to make hot chocolate, we flavoured it with fresh ginger.

100% pure cacao - this hand-ground paste is ready to be boiled into pure hot chocolate.

2. PEACH PALM

Peach Palm fruit - these fruits are hung over a wood burning fire to give them a smoky and nutty taste.

Photo by Edder Francisco Diaz Segura

The whole peach palm is edible. I'm holding the inflorescence (eaten roasted) and the heart of palm and young flowers (white material) are cooked in this large green leaf.

3. BANANAS

Purple bananas - it is more sweet and filling than a standard yellow cavendish; Purple bananas are also the special ingredient in Armadillo stew.

One versatile banana - this sweet dessert banana can be eaten as a snack or boiled when unripe to add to a meal; here I was eating this banana with wild greens and eggs.

Roasted bananas - my favorite afternoon snack with a cup of hot chocolate.

4. SIMPLICITY

Stone-ground corn (we did the grinding by hand) - how often can you make corn tortillas or cornbread from scratch? All you need is corn, water, and a couple stones.

Simple yet satisfying