North America is home to many indigenous plants whose culinary potential is often unrecognized, or forgotten. In her work as a forager and botanically-inclined cook, Marie Viljoen has developed hundreds of recipes using virtually unknown native ingredients that reflect regional character or terroir.

Join Marie Viljoen as she unearths the potential of a number of these native plants that occur prolifically in the Northeast and across much of the United States including bayberry, pawpaw, spicebush, and sweetfern.

Viljoen will discuss the flavor profiles of these native plants (along with invasive but edible weeds) as well as their preparation and preservation methods in botanical and culinary detail.

This program is a part of our Wild Food series.

ABOUT MARIE VILJOEN

Marie Viljoen is a writer, forager, gardener, and cook, and has loved edible plants since her childhood in South Africa. The author of 66 Square Feet, her urban and edible gardens have been profiled by The New York Times and Martha Stewart Living and appear in several books. She is the resident forage expert for Edible Brooklyn and Edible Manhattan magazines and a botanical contributor to Gardenista. Her stories and photographs appear in Saveur, Better Homes and Gardens, and many other publications. Marie leads sought-after seasonal wild plant walks in New York City, where she lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Vincent Mounier.