WORDS Katie Vega
A simple definition with a simple purpose. The last time
you probably heard the word “forager” was in ninth grade U.S. history when your teacher was giving a lecture on hunter-gatherers. But a small group of foragers remain in our population, using what we already have, given to us by the soil we walk on, to feed themselves, their family, and the patrons in their restaurants.
Chris Bennett, a native of Pell City, grew up with the constant urge to explore on his family’s 84-acre farm. College didn’t feed his need to wander, and after dropping out, he fell in love with cooking. Chris has fed mouths all over the country, including Richmond and Chicago, but found his way back home in 2005. This guy may have a narrow goal - connecting people to the land’s unknown or overlooked edibles - but his interests are as expansive as the list of herbs that grow in Alabama. He is an extreme lover of fried eggs, the Stones’ Exile on Main Street, and Bottletree in Birmingham. So that’s about all we need to know, right?! Fiiine, here’s some more...
Chris Bennett: “As a kid, I really wanted to be an archeologist. I love history and finding things. I guess you could say even though I’m not mapping out a burial ground or uncovering ancient ruins, I’m digging up everything the South grows in the wild and is edible.”
MADE Paper: How did you get into foraging?
CB: “I got into foraging while cooking in restaurants all over the country. While working in Chicago, I picked upEssential Cuisine by Michel Bras. He’s a French chef who forages all around his restaurant in Lagioule. He talked a lot about time and place, and about how what grows wild should reflect in our food. Nothing says more about where you are than what is growing wild. He really made me want to find out everything that was growing around the farm that was edible.”
MP: Is there anyone that inspires you in the field or foraging, someone who you look up to? And tell me why. CB:“Ido. IlookuptomyfriendHankShaw. Heisa forager, writer, and cook who writes the Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook blog. He knows just about everything there is to know about hunting, fishing, gardening, cooking, and foraging. He has also been really supportive with the book I have been working on.”
MP: What’s the most interesting thing you’ve ever found on a hunt?
CB: “After years and years of looking for stinging nettles and being convinced that they do not grow in Central Alabama, I stumbled upon some. I was picking the leaves of oxeye daisies and all of a sudden my hand felt like it was on fire. I looked around for bees or ants and could not find any. I looked around and sure enough, scattered among the oxeye daisies, were stinging nettles.”
MP: What do you use your findings for?
CB: “Right now, I love putting chickweed in salads for the crunchy texture and its raw green pea flavor, and making pine needle tea for its citrusy, pine flavor.”
MP: What excites you and keeps you in the field?
CB: “I’m constantly amazed at the new things I find here in Alabama. It seems like I find something new every year. I am constantly blown away by how many wild edibles we have here in the South.”
MP: What are three things you can’t live without? CB: “Woods, animals, books.”
MP: What do you love about our state? What keeps you here?
CB: “I think the thing I love the most is how green the state is. It’s called Alabama the beautiful for a reason! I also love how ecologically diverse the state is. I think what keeps me here is how much more there is to discover. There’s more to explore. There’s more people to teach. There’s also a burgeoning food and drink scene in Birmingham that I have had the pleasure to be a part of and to see grow.”
MP: Tell me one thing most people don’t know about you. CB: “I used to weigh 250 pounds. Most people don’t believe me when I tell them. I went vegan and immediately lost 50 pounds, eventually became vegetarian, and I’m now a proud omnivore.”
To see Chris’s adventures and findings, follow him on Instagram (@foragerman) and visit his website at hollowspringfarm.blogspot.com. Oh, and you better be at Southern Makers to meet this guy and so many other amazing Alabama makers.