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'Alaska’s Wild Gourmet' makes me want to go foraging

'Alaska’s Wild Gourmet' makes me want to go foraging

I haven’t had the chance to do much foraging this year. I missed the window for fiddlehead ferns, but I have big dreams of turning my backyard into a forager’s paradise for EJ.

Another forage find: oyster leaf. This stuff is super hardy, super tasty, Bradley says. It's like ocean lettuce, you know, it's perfect for seafood. We're going to use this as a mixed green.

I want to put rhubarb and raspberry bushes up along the fence, plant wildflowers in the front lawn by the greenhouse and have an apple tree fit for picking. I remember playing outside my childhood home and snacking on raspberries while my brother and I took turns running through the sprinkler. Or, if you’re my brother, you remember whacking your little sister with rhubarb sticks while she screams bloody murder and runs for her life.

I want to pull into the driveway with a huge lilac tree that lowers your cortisol when you turn your car off, open your drive door to take a deep breath in. Currants in every corner of the yard. And maybe a little patch of morels in the back under the tamarack tree. This is *my* dream, okay?? Indulge me.

Pictured is a rockfish galantine with a corn and red pepper grit cake, cucumber creme fraiche and roasted corn relish.

Alaska's Wild Gourmet only got one season, with seven episodes. The show highlights the Ewing family in Kodiak: Mom Sherri was the owner of Red Hot Cooking in Kodiak, a catering company, along with her daughter Amy, and son, Bradley. In every episode, they go foraging. My dream date, cute.

Sea cucumbers, cranberries, shrimp, periwinkle snails, porcini mushrooms, they harvest it all – even angel wing mushrooms, which the internet says you should not eat. They used to be considered safe to eat until 17 people in Japan died after consuming them (most of whom had preexisting liver conditions). You can still buy them online.

Sweet Rocket, also known as Dame's Rocket, which is edible.

It doesn’t take long to realize why Alaska's Wild Gourmet only got a one season run. After watching enough shows, you start to pick up on certain archetypes — one of which is the guy who thinks he is so funny and the reason there’s a film crew following him around (see Ken from Wild West Guns). In the first ep, the brother and sister take us out to do some foraging for sea lovage, salmon and blueberries.

This Reddit post on lovage made me chuckle: I planted it on the advice that it “tastes like celery” and I really like celery. And yet this celery is driving a train and you’re a penny and it flattens you like Abe Lincoln with nasty bitter celery to the power of 10. How are people using this beyond its ornamental appeal. I barely watered this and it came back as a strong perennial.

I want to buy you corn dogs, I want to take you out to prom, girl, Bradley says to the salmon he catches.

Bradley is really into serving his meals on these wooden slabs. I had no clue until five minutes ago about the subreddit r/WeWantPlates but I feel really seen. Please, go look at a shovel of General Tso's Chicken or pancakes in a cage so you know what the hell I'm talking about.

Wouldn't the sauces get stuck in the wooden grooves? Someone tell me to shut up

(total watch time: 2 hours, 27 minutes)

What are we streaming for our in-person watch party?

I am riddled with indecision. Do we watch an episode of a TV show? A movie? Someone recommended The Frozen Ground, but that feels a bit heavy. Or am I overthinking it (story of my life).

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Jamie Larson
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