Hailing from Vancouver Island, Untamed Feast is a foraged food lover’s dream. They hunt both close to home and afar to seek the best quality wild mushrooms. Then they dry them, sell them, and make our culinary dreams come true.
We couldn’t resist finding out more. Here’s what Eric from the husband/wife duo has to say:
What made you start Untamed Feast in the first place?
My wife and I both foraged as kids. About 11 autumns ago, we quit our jobs to hunt matsutake (pine mushrooms) in Bella Coola on the northwest coast. We had so many beautiful mushrooms, but the price was really low with the export buyers. We decided to dry them and sell them to restaurants and realized so little of this amazing food was being eaten in Canada. The following spring we did the same with morels and it just snowballed. We wanted people to be able to eat it in their own kitchens.
How often do people ask you how psychedelic these mushrooms are?
Many people ask us if we sell magic mushrooms. Our reply is that they are magically delicious!
What's the most uncommon/oddest way you use your dried mushrooms that most people would never think to do?
Matsutake ice cream. My wife has also done morel mole. It was fabulous! We ate so much that it gave us a cocoa buzz. We also love Morels with Port and Red Wine Chocolate Sauce… a mixture of morels, wine, dark chocolate, cinnamon, and chilies.
My knowledge of mushroom cultivation only goes as far as my extensive research on John Cage. Are you an avid mycologist?
I’m a certified herbalist and a naturalist. I was taught by my father and my grandmother, and am not bad with my Latin taxonomy. However, I’m interested in wild anything: edible, medicinal, decorative. I’m currently working with Royal Roads University to create a certification in mushroom harvesting.
You're making a meal for our Olympic Team. What are you making them?
My standby favourite is morels in cream sauce on pasta, chicken, or fish. But Olympians need carbs, so I’d make them a porcini risotto. Porcini has a rich unami flavor—comfort food on those lonely Sochi nights—and they’re high in protein and loaded with vitamin D, selenium, and many other nutrients to fuel their performances. They also have anti-inflammatory properties to ease the aches of those hardworking bodies. And the risotto is just darn good.
5 More Facts We Dig:
1. Cooking videos on their site are essential for the those new to using dried mushrooms.
2. Porcinis pack in 52 percent protein, have the highest selenium content of all wild mushrooms, contain 8 amino acids, and are shown to have anti-cancer benefits. Morels aren’t far behind, containing the highest amount of protein in any vegetable.
3. Two words: Dragon’s Den. (We won’t tell you what happened, but check it out here!)
4. Mushroom soaking water makes the absolute best starter for a mushroom broth.
5. We now have a slight addiction to this.
Now go see them in action!
