Winifred Bird and Paul Poynter's Eating Wild Japan is due March 2021. Pre-order your copy here.
"Winifred Bird has penned a delightful homage to those who practice the art of bringing wild foods deliciously to table. Eating Wild Japan triggered fond memories of outings with my mother-in-law in Shikoku unearthing edible shoots and roots that her kitchen wisdom later turned into a feast."
—Elizabeth Andoh, author of Washoku and Kansha
"A beautiful and thoughtful exploration of the deep relationship--past and present--between people and wild plants in one of the world's richest foraging regions. And filled with recipes that I am eager to try, for many of these plants, or their close relatives, are found in North America. Winifred Bird has captured the deeper meaning of wild edibles, both to the people who eat them, and to the wild landscapes these people cherish."
—Samuel Thayer, author of Incredible Wild Edibles and The Forager's Harvest
"Winifred Bird has created a fascinating, thought-provoking, and delightful book. A must read for anyone interested in the role of wild edibles in Japanese culture and cuisine. A scrumptious story that made me want to eat and travel with Bird as my companion."
—Gina Rae La Cerva, author of Feasting Wild: In Search of the Last Untamed Food
“Finally, someone has written a book on Sansai that can begin to answer some of my questions about different plants, how they’re consumed, and most delicious of all: a glimpse into the role they play in Japanese culture. Eating Wild Japan is a savory collection of essays into the world of Sansai, a sort of catch-all term for many traditional wild plants eaten in Japan. Lovers of foraging will find new things in its pages absent from North American and Euro-centric wild food literature.”
—Chef Alan Bergo, author of foragerchef.com and The Forager Chef's Book of Flora
“At once fascinating and practical, Winifred Bird's roving inquiry offers more than a curated guide to Japan's wild edible plants and their preparation. It's a blueprint for making our own journeys into distant foodways. The result is a deeper understanding of people and place--and a basket full of extraordinary ingredients to brighten the table."
—Langdon Cook, author of Upstream: Searching for Wild Salmon, from River to Table
“This is a terrific book, and the only one of its kind. A fascinating and knowledgeable history, many insightful stories about the roles these plants play in people’s lives, a useful wild plant guide, and delicious recipes. You’ll want to try them all!”
—Azby Brown, author of Just Enough: Lessons in living green from traditional Japan
“I long to encounter every enchanting forest, passionate preservationist, and bracingly bitter taste Winifred Bird vividly describes. I’m grateful to learn along with her about Japan’s traditional and contemporary wild food cultures that nourish connection to the nonhuman world—to incremental changes in season and climate—and to history. Her simple recipes offer insight into a delightful way of eating that you need not travel to Japan to try.”
—Hannah Kirshner, author of Water, Wood, and Wild Things
"This is a marvelous book, a book to savor while dreaming about wild plants and tempting dishes. Winifred Bird’s gentle walks through Japanese foraging landscapes are infused with tantalizing stories and flavors. Instructive and wise, Eating Wild tells of foraging to inspire closer attention to the weedy, wild world around us."
—Anna Tsing, co-editor of Feral Atlas: The More-than-Human Anthropocene (feralatlas.org)