lsanderson | Chefs Look for Wild Ingredients Nobody Else Has

Foraging can yield many new ingredients. Top row, from left: nasturtium flowers, leaves and pods; eucalyptus bark and lichen; pine needles. Middle row: yarrow, mustard flowers, radish flowers. Bottom row: eucalyptus leaves, chickweed, dandelion greens. More Photos »
By OLIVER STRAND and JOE DiSTEFANO
Published: November 23, 2010

LAST Thursday, Adam Kopels walked into Torrisi Italian Specialties in NoLIta, opened his messenger bag and pulled out Ziploc bags filled with wild greens he had gathered on the North Fork of Long Island, near where he lives. Mario Carbone, one of the restaurant’s chefs and owners, sat with Mr. Kopels and sorted through clumps of baby peppercress and sheep sorrel, red bay and shepherd’s purse. The two picked up some sea rocket, a plant that grows only on exposed dunes, and crunched through the peppery leaves. More