TRUK JANTZ
For six years, Truk Jantz worked as a chef in Nevada City, and he also spent time raising pigs on a farm in the area. An avid hiker and fisherman who grew up camping, he’s always been interested in our connection to food and the land. So last summer, Jantz started Conscious Course (www. consciouscourse.org), guided group expeditions based on eating fresh, locally raised food in wilderness settings.
He’ll hike you into the backcountry and cook your dinner, collected from a nearby farm, over a stove he builds himself out of fire and stone. This year, he’s planning to lead an overnight backpacking trip in the Sierra, a weeklong yoga and pottery trip to the south of France, and a surfing, fishing and camping retreat in Baja.
“It’s a food experience, but it’s also a nature-immersion experience,” Jantz says.
Recently, Jantz has gotten into foraging — hunting chanterelle mushrooms in the fall in the Northwest, picking mussels and clams off the beaches of Baja, and in the Sierra foothills, gathering acorns to mill into flour. Here are his tips for exploring nature to find a stronger connection to what you eat.
— Megan Michelson
Pick your own food: “You-pick farms are a good entry point for someone looking to get their hands dirty and see where their food comes from. You’ll meet the farmer, pick some food. It’s also a good way of supporting the farm.” Check out Riverhill Farm in Nevada City for you-pick berries and a sea of flowers. www.riverhillfarm.com
Intro to foraging: “Have an objective. It feels more focused than just taking a walk in the woods or hiking to a waterfall. You start to notice things, you look in all the nooks and crannies.” Use social media by searching hashtags for say, chanterelles, to see what people are finding where.
Search out one thing: “The simplest way to forage is to set out for one thing. You’ll know exactly what you’re looking for. Along the way, you may find a different thing that looks interesting, and you can take a picture and research it later. But to start, go for something you know.” There’s a renaissance of acorn foraging happening now, with a wealth of bloggers contributing acorn tips and recipes.
Fish for dinner: “I fish a lot of lakes, streams and creeks. I like Donner Lake for mackinaw (trout), but you need to have proper gear, since they’re 120 to 180 feet down. Lake Stampede has delicious kokanee. You can clean them, leave the bone in and smoke them whole. On the coast, you can get fishing charters in places like Monterey and Big Sur.” Before you fish, check the California Department of Fish and Wildlife website for regulations and licensing.
Take it all in: “Being outside in nature is healthy for us. We need direct contact with the earth. Take your shoes off. Touch leaves. Smell plants. Use more than just your eyesight to take things in. Feel where the wind is coming from, listen to the sounds.” .