The Local Palate
9/24/14
The two-day event began with a foraging trip for the chefs. Renowned wild foods expert and wily edu-tainer, Alan Muskat of No Taste Like Home, took the chefs into the woods armed with baskets and wielding the foraging world’s version of a spork, an elementary contraption uniting knife and brush into what Muskat calls a “brife.”
We were joined by Chef Elliott Moss of the upcoming Buxton Hall Barbecue (formerly of The Admiral where he received a James Beard nomination for Best Chef Southeast), Chef Daniel Rattigan of French Broad Chocolates, Celebrity Mixologist Sara Strom fresh in from Los Angeles, Chef Dissen, and Jeff Black, Director of the James Beard Celebrity Chef Tour.
Muskat helped the group identify 25 edible discoveries and countless inedible ones. Moss left with a full basket including spicebush berries, spruce pine needles and wild greens, which he used in a quail brine for his contributing course.