Gathering Dinner At Teaswood Pond
Today I went to gather dinner ingredients at Teaswood pond in Conroe, Texas. I caught stonefly larvae, dragonfly larvae, baby crayfish, snails and tiny translucent freshwater shrimp by dragging a butterfly net through clusters of curled pondweed and grass.
The snails were abundant but tiny, like pebbles. Boiled and dipped in a roasted sesame black bean sauce, it was as good as the best escargot. The baby crayfish fried whole were like soft-shelled crab. I also fried the dragonfly and stonefly larvae. I used a standard vegetable oil to fry the larvae with, so that I could better taste what I was eating. I seasoned them with salt and they were crispy and sweet and went well with the crayfish. The shrimp tasted like their cousins from the ocean. I also dug up little freshwater clams in the sand but they didn’t taste like much (I made a simple broth, so not to interfere with the clam’s natural flavor), true to their reputation.
I dug up the root of a thorny thistle plant and simmered it in sake, soy, mirin and a dried chili pepper and it was deee-licious. A few days earlier, I had found a branch covered with dry green lichen. I had soaked it in water and changed the water about a dozen times over three days. I made sure to separate the lichen from bits of bark and grit. Sauteed with garlic, extra-virgin olive oil and a little salt it tasted like the mongrel child of seaweed and oyster mushrooms, taking the best characteristics from both parents.
My gals, Meredith and Mary Margaret, tried everything that I had collected. In fact, by the time I was done cooking, there was barely any left for me. This flattered the heck out of me! Most Texans don’t eat bugs nowadays, so I do believe that these cowgirls were brave epicures.
