fuki (butterbur),
warabi (bracken root),
kajime (seaweed) or
kihada (amur cork)? These are just some of the obscure foods that have lost the battle to the prettier, plastic-wrapped vegetables of Japan’s supermarket shelves today. But we are reintroduced to these native delights, which were once staple foods in ancient Japan, in the new book “Eating Wild Japan: Tracking the Culture of Foraged Foods, with a Guide to Plants and Recipes” by Winifred Bird.
Eating Wild Japan: Tracking the Culture of Foraged Foods, with a Guide to Plants and Recipes. Available from March 30.
In ancient Japan, the population’s diet was much more varied and deeply rooted (apologies for the pun) to the land. It was often based on hunting and gathering of