Les Stroud's Wild Harvest

Les navigates a cliff to explore an unusual patch of Miner’s Lettuce. Chef Paul gets his hands dirty harvesting cattail rhizomes, and after a quick lesson on starch extraction, he sees the potential and presents Les with three gingery courses of wild harvested flavor.

Just a short drive from the city of Edmonton, Alberta expert forager Les Stroud and Chef Paul Rogalski find themselves experiencing the natural life cycles of horsetail, and fireweed right where they grow. Add to this the bounty of dandelion and cattail and you have the makings of a delicious wild harvest!

The milkweed plant is the natural life-sustaining domain of the monarch butterfly larvae who choose this wildflower as the only species to develop and grow upon. Sustainably harvested it also represents a wonderful broccoli like vegetable for Chef Paul Rogalski to experiment with. A short walk from expert forager Les Stroud’s own cottage, on the edge of the local gravel pit a prolific bounty awaits for our wild harvesters.

Les finds himself immersed in a plethora of in season wild edibles when he paddles and explores the swamps and forests surrounding his cabin in the woods in Temagami, Ontario. Chef Paul is energized with so many ingredients to play with, including a Small Mouth Bass.

Just ahead of the winter snows Les and Paul find themselves enjoying the fresh cool winds and grey skies over the Athabasca River. Expert forager Les Stroud challenges Chef Paul Rogalski to his delight with the harvest of a ruffed grouse, rose hips, sweet clover and willow branches.

After a lucky find of a wild turkey in pristine condition expert forager Les Stroud heads out with a local mycologist to gather one of the worlds most sought after mushrooms; Matsutake aka “Pine Mushrooms”. Returning with an armload of mushrooms Les sits back and lets Chef Paul Rogalski blow his culinary mind with a simple dish of mushrooms on toast followed by the best turkey Stroud has ever tasted.

Expert forager Les Stroud decides to challenge Chef Paul Rogalski with a harvest based solely on two trees; Oak and Madrone. With bark, berries, nuts, flour and even infused bourbon, Les leaves Paul and guest chef Joy Cyr with a tough culinary challenge.

Showing that you need never travel farther than your own driveway expert forager Les Stroud takes a short walk and comes back to Chef Paul Rogalski with a delicate selection of gentle greens. Dodging massive lightening storms, Les and Paul work together on Stroud’s own deck to create the perfect wild harvest to compliment barbecued rib eye steak.

After a quick paddle and a lakeside lunch, Les gathers Pond Lily Tubers while Chef Paul harvests cattails. Les challenges Paul to rethink the traditional preparation of Pond Lily Tuber, and he does so while showcasing the attributes and potential of his cattail harvest.

Chef Paul and Les visit a community farm jam-packed with harvesting options for expert forager Les, including honey from a large colony of bees. Paul is inspired by the spirit of the farm and creates brunch dishes with a combination of wild and domestic ingredients, designed to easily feed a community of helping hands.

Les and Paul enjoy a stay at Kevin’s “From The Wild” camp in the boreal forest in Northern Alberta. Les introduces Paul to techniques of harvesting wild black currants while secretly gathering some additional undisclosed foraged flavors. After the ingredient reveal Paul gets to work with a new twist on a classic mixed grill.

On the banks of the Bow River, just minutes from Chef Paul’s home, Les shows his foraging prowess. Paul utilizes his culinary garden and restaurant kitchen to prepare the final dishes of season one with some surprise ingredients from Les’ bounty.