With detailed recipes for ferments, infusions, spices, and other preparations

Incorporating wild foods into our meals is becoming increasingly popular, but

The New Wildcrafted Cuisine

takes this practice to an entirely new, palate-bending level and in the process redefines terroir as we’ve come to know it

Author Pascal Baudar, a professional forager and wild food instructor, combines his research and in-depth knowledge of plants and landscapes (something that chefs often lack) with the fascinating and innovative techniques of a master food preserver and self-described “culinary alchemist.”

For instance, Baudar uses various barks to make smoked vinegars, and combines ants, plants, and insect sugar to brew primitive beers. Stems of aromatic plants are repurposed as skewers for grilling. Carefully selected rocks become grinding stones, griddles, or rustic plates. Even fallen leaves and other natural materials from the forest floor can be utilized to impart a truly local flavor to meats and vegetables, capturing and expressing the essence of season and place.

This beautifully photographed book offers up dozens of creative, seasonal recipes and instructions for preparing a variety of preserved foods

, including: Pickled Acorns, White Sage-Lime Cider, Wild Kimchi Spice, Wild Mustards, Currant Capers, Infused Salts with Wild Herbs, Pine Needles Vinegar, and many more.

Though Baudar lives in southern California, readers everywhere can apply his deep foraging wisdom and experience to explore their own bioregions and find an astonishing array of plants and other materials that can be used in their own kitchens.

The New Wildcrafted Cuisine is an extraordinary book by a passionate and committed student of nature and is sure to inspire both chefs and adventurous eaters to get creative with their own local landscapes.