Wild food project gathers pace!

28 April 2014 News

Professional chefs from around Spain are discovering the advantages of wild food products from sustainably managed Spanish forests thanks to the 2013 Collaboration Fund project ‘Tastes of Sustainable Forests’.

“These wild food products have a special flavor, which comes from the forests themselves, and PEFC wants forests to provide these products in a sustainable way,” says Ana Belén Noriega, National Secretary of PEFC Spain. “This is what we are doing as part of our project.”

To spark the interest of chefs and professionals within the gourmet sector, PEFC Spain and its project partners are working on a number of activities to demonstrate the wide range of uses for these sustainably produced wild food products.

Already underway are a number of ‘creative cuisine’ cooking classes held by internationally renowned chef Charo Val. Designed for professional chefs, these classes showcase the use of wild foods, such PEFC certified Iberian ham, in high-end gourmet cuisine. Not forgetting the country’s future chefs, these cooking classes have also been held in the Galician and Pravia Gastronomy Schools.

Also targeting the wild food producers, as well as professional chefs, PEFC Spain has published two articles in ORIGEN, a food-sector focused magazine, coinciding with two important events within the Spanish culinary scene: Salón Gourmet in Madrid, 10-13th of March, and Feria Alimentaria in Barcelona, 1-3 April.

While still in the early days of the project, interest in wild food has already begun to grow in the country. After contacting PEFC Spain for more information on wild food products and the project itself, the TV cooking show ‘Cocina con Sergia’, broadcast on Spanish TV channel TVE1, dedicated an episode to recipes made with wild food products. During the show the value of certified forests was highlighted, including the important role they play in the development of rural communities.

Also in the pipeline is the development of a ‘Sustainable Forests’ cookbook with 21 recipes celebrating wild food products. Compiled by Chef Charo Val, and in collaboration with AROTZ, DELAFORESTA, PIÑONSOL, ANAE and IXP Castaña de Galicia, this book will allow the general public to enjoy the flavors of the forest in their own homes.

For more information and updates on the project, please visit the Wild Food Products section of the PEFC Spain website.

More videos are also available on the Wild Food Project YouTube channel.