Foraging - Day 7

 Hi family and friends! (and of course Hal!)

Today was the seventh day of our New Nordic journey and our final full day in Copenhagen before continuing for Sweden in the morning tomorrow. The day began early with a bus drive an hour and a half away from the campsite Sanddobebernes Camping in Denmark's Western Zealand region, where we would meet our foraging guide, Jørgen Stoltz.

During this guided tour, Jørgen identified a variety of plants that can be utilized as ingredients, as demonstrated by the lunch debriefing after our trip, which included some of the plants collected and taste tested on our adventure. The plants included a number of vegetables and herbs that are commonly used in American cuisine but are known by a different name. Below is a picture of all the herbs collected, along with their names. 


Half of the plants Jørgen had collected and made us sample during our foraging trip!

Some of the plants in the area that grow closer to bodies of water are inherently more salty due to the saline of the water. The geology of the land area, as discussed on the trip, is the result of the ice age creating calcium rich soil, which elevated the seafloor and exhibits a lot of ridges as well as some flat land, as stated in this article. This reminded me of Minnesota's habitat and the crops that grow naturally in the area or that develop as a result of the land structure and weather. Although Minnesota will not be able to produce all of the plants collected and forged on the tour, it makes me question what other natural ingredients might be lurking within the landscape, as nature is a great source of finding strong flavored components to use in traditional dishes made at home.

We finished the tour with an additional climb up a mountain where we could view where we had started our foraging excursion, and it was beautiful. But that's all for now, Stockholm; here's to day 8!🌱

-Sadie B

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