In February, following an unusually rainy winter in the Pacific Northwest of the US the New York Times released a guide for mushroom foragers. The Times reported that “this season’s mushroom boom coincides with an increasing number of people who are interested in plucking mushrooms out of the ground.” It’s a “lot of fun and a great reason to plan a vacation.”
Black Tomato, a luxury travel agency, offers a variety of foraging excursions. These include an afternoon aboard a traditional Norwegian 40-foot schooner, where participants clean, prepare and catch cod.
Airbnb offers a variety of foraging trips, including one in California that is very popular. The 90-minute experience includes a lesson on phycology, or marine algae science. It also teaches sustainable harvesting methods. The 90-minute experience concludes with a traditional Japanese bowl of ramen, made from the seaweed that was just foraged.
Hank Shaw, a James Beard Award winning chef and cookbook author, leads culinary hunts of three days in Oklahoma with his company, Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook. Participants learn how to prepare waterfowl and game for food. The $2,000 hunts, which include hunting, lodging, and chef-prepared food, are often sold out within 48 hours.
