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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (June 7, 2019)
Friday, June 7, 2019 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com • A3 Langdon Cook looks to the land Nourishment, deliciousness abound — if you know what to look for in the wild By CARA MICO For Seaside Signal F orage expert extraordinaire and globe trotter Langdon Cook stopped by the Seaside Library to share his knowledge of shellfi sh collecting and cooking. The May 23 event, “Pacifi c NW Shellfi sh Foraging and Cooking,” was sponsored by the Friends of the Seaside Library and was his fourth at the library, his past presentations focused on mushrooms, plants and berries, and salmon fi shing. Cook spends most of his time in Seat- tle with his family, but has travelled “up and down the west coast” as well as in New England. “Wildfoods have been a part of life since I moved to the Pacifi c Northwest three decades ago,” Cook said. Cook spent a good part of his life on the water, out in the wilderness. The forag- ing stemmed from a need to improve bor- ing camp menus with fresh, wild berries, fi sh and mushrooms when 20 miles in the wil- derness. Over time Cook’s goal became the wild foods rather than bagging a peak. F IN DING THE Food Al L a ro u n d us Langdon Cook with the elusive geoduck. But for Cook, foraging isn’t only about Cook’s thorough and engaging presenta- sprinkling in bits of wild food recreation- tion covered detailed descriptions of where ally, it’s also about preserving wild foods for to fi nd the best shellfi sh including razor future generations. clams, Manila clams, horse clams, cockles “Sustainability is a huge part of what and the famed geoduck. He also provided I talk about. Foraging makes you a better several mouth-watering recipes for each steward of the land and water. It was the species, many of which can be found in his matsutake mushroom hunters of southern books. Oregon who convinced the Forest Service to For the Seaside region he suggested for- consider more selective logging. They can agers should keep an eye out for beaches make more money from harvesting one vari- with equal parts sand, gravel and mud where ety of mushroom in mature forest than from they might fi nd the non-native Manila clam traditional forestry,” Cook said. three to four inches beneath the surface. He’s compiled his knowledge of the land This commonplace clam is considered the into a series of clam of commerce books, which are as it travels well less guidebooks and is considered ‘FORAGING MAKES YOU and more narra- a delicacy by most A BETTER STEWARD tives with people chefs. Cook steams at the center. They them with chopped OF THE LAND AND WATER.’ focus on the inter- fennel and thyme, Langdon Cook section of food and wine, butter and nature with a fair cream. His recipes few recipes woven are simple, incor- throughout. porating bright and bold fl avors with fresh If you’re looking to start foraging Cook seasonal ingredients. recommends taking a class, either through “All you need is a limit of clams and a a local extension service or from someone few ingredients,” Cook said. you trust, and start foraging. You could also If you’re considering hunting for the elu- consider joining a mycological or botanical sive geoduck bear in mind that this is not an society which has the added benefi t of mak- animal for beginners. The clam is only found ing friends. A good class will not only help during the lowest tides of the year, around you learn to identify and harvest wild foods the minus three foot tide. Look for the dou- but also to process and cook them. ble barrel shotgun siphon and then start dig- ging. Give yourself plenty of time and dig adjacent to the clam until you hit the ele- vation of the foot. It’s no wonder that the clam’s name is rooted in a Nisqually word for “dig-deep.” Geoducks are the longest living shellfi sh species living for 150 years or more. The massive bivalve can grow up to eight inches with a three foot siphon, weighing over three pounds. Remarkably Puget Sound suppos- edly has more geoduck clams on the bottom than all other life combined by weight. Cook recommends immersing the clam in boiling water for 10 seconds to remove the shell and the membrane surrounding the body. He serves the siphon, which is choice, sashimi or sushi style. The body is delicious as well but requires slightly more cooking time. Try the Sichuan morel and asparagus preparation in his book. Other tips included in the books include which shellfi sh make the best chowder and which ones are good for frying, as well as cleaning methods. But Cook suggests that you won’t become an expert forager by read- ing his books, for that you’ll need to get out onto the land and start looking for yourself. “There is no substitute for going outside and seeing food for yourself,” Cook said. “A photograph and text don’t tell the full story. A Douglas fi r can look one way in a picture but look completely different depending on the location. Get out there with someone you trust.” ‘By-the-wind sailors’ return to Seaside beaches Seaside Aquarium The Oregon Coast Aquar- ium reports the “blue tide” is upon us, as beaches all along the Oregon coast are strewn with an aquamarine layer of jelly-like organisms espe- cially apparent at low tide. These are the innumer- able bodies of by-the-wind sailors, formally known as Velella velella, and their strandings are a regular, yet fascinating late spring phe- nomenon in coastal Oregon. By-the-wind sailors are hydrozoans, a class of pred- atory animals, distantly related to corals, sea anem- ones and jellies. They range in size from a few millime- ters across to seven centime- ters and appear brilliant blue and purple when at sea or freshly washed ashore. After time in the sun, the velella dry out and lose their pig- mentation. Beachgoers will often mistake the dried ani- mals for thin, clear pieces of plastic. By-the-wind-sailors are not singular organisms but in fact colonies of animals. Each velella is a colony of all-male or all-female indi- viduals (called polyps), which are divided into sep- arate groups within the col- ony. Some polyps specialize in feeding and reproduction, while others protect the col- ony and provide structural support. Visitors walking the beaches in the next few weeks should enjoy these incredible creatures safely while their aquamarine hues last — they won’t look that good for long, and they’ll soon smell much worse. The Oregon Coast Aquar- ium creates unique and engaging experiences that connect visitors to the Ore- gon Coast and inspire ocean conservation. Oregon Coast Aquarium Velella velella along Oregon beaches. National parks track visitor dollars in new report Fresh Oregon The Astorian A new report shows 1.3 million visitors to national parks in Oregon spent $94 million in the state last year. Overall, that spending resulted in more than 1,000 jobs and a cumulative ben- efi t to the state economy of $133 million. Nationwide, the National Park Service report found $20.2 billion of direct spend- ing by more than 318 million park visitors. The cumula- tive benefi t to the U.S. econ- omy was $40.1 billion. Oregon’s North Coast con- tains one national park, the Lewis and Clark National His- torical Park in Warrenton. The state’s other national parks are Crater Lake National Park, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument and Oregon Caves National Monument. “The national parks of Ore- gon attract visitors from across the country and around the world,” Stan Austin, regional director for the National Park Service’s Pacifi c West Region, said in a statement. “Whether they are out for an afternoon, a school fi eld trip, or a month- long family vacation, visitors come to have a great experi- ence, and end up spending a little money along the way.” Lodging expenses accounted for the biggest chunk of visitor spending, about $6.8 billion total in 2018 at parks nationally. Food expenses came in second at around $5 billion between restaurants and bars and gro- cery and convenience stores. Hood sTRAWBERRIES Available Now! Monday - Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Watch for us at the corner of Marlin & 101 at Fast Lube in Warrenton. Call 503-359-5204 for more info. Picked Daily!