Wild Foods

Rediscovering wild berries, fruits, mushrooms and edible plants

For a long time Canadians relied on wild berries, fruits, mushrooms and edible plants as an important element of their staple diet. This component of non-cultivated products has gradually diminished with the development of mechanized agriculture and urbanization. Many people today are simply unaware of the benefits and the flavours of some of these foods.

In recent years these natural products have become fashionable, and many small businesses began to harvest and package wild foods. OGourmet has decided to add a new line to its collection of fine products – wild foods, featuring more than 50 products from many small Canadian firms.

Consumers are often unfamiliar with many of the wild berries, fruits, mushrooms and plants that are available. To make up for this lack of knowledge, OGourmet presents information on the nature and use of these natural products. We hope that it will either refresh your knowledge or introduce you to these exciting products, providing tips on getting the best from these wild foods.

Wild berries and fruits

Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana): The chokecherry has a large pit which makes it difficult to use in jams, which is why it tends to be used for jellies. As the juice contains very little natural pectin, commercial pectin must be added. Try the jellied chokecherries from Gourmet Sauvage.

Cloudberry or Bakeapple (Rubus chamaemorus): The ripe fruits are golden-yellow, soft and juicy, and are rich in vitamin C. When eaten fresh, cloudberries have a distinctive tart taste. Many cloudberry products are offered by OGourmet: cloudberry jam and cloudberry-infused Ceylon tea from The Dark Tickle, raspberry and cloudberry jam from Les Saveurs Oubliées, and cloudberry compote from Gourmet Sauvage.

Crowberry (Empetrum nigrum): The raw berries are mealy and tasteless, but cooking enhances the flavour. Discover crowberries yourself with two products offered by The Dark Tickle: crowberry jam and crowberry-infused Ceylon tea.

Dwarf Raspberry or Dewberry (Rubus pubescens): Its size is small but its taste is great. Try the dwarf raspberry compote from Gourmet Sauvage.

Highbush Cranberry (Viburnum trilobum). Many common names are associated with this berry: highbush cranberry, squashberry, American cranberry bush, guelder rose, dog rowan, European cranberry tree, marsh alder, rose elder, red elder, water elder, dog elder, gatten tree, whitten tree, ople tree, snowball tree and crampbark. Although called “Highbush Cranberry”, it is not a cranberry. Try the highbush cranberry jelly from Gourmet Sauvage, or the squashberry spread from The Dark Tickle.

Lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea var. minus): Also known as partridgeberry, redberry, cowberry, foxberry, mountain cranberry, red whortleberry, lowbush cranberry, rock cranberry, etc. Tart in flavour, they are high in vitamin C, tannin, anthocyanin and antioxidants. OGourmet products include partridgeberry jam and partridgeberry-infused Ceylon tea from The Dark Tickle, and lingonberry compote from Gourmet Sauvage.

Saskatoon Berry is also known as amelanchier, shadbush, serviceberry, sarvisberry, juneberry, shadblow, shadwood, sugarplum and wild-plum. The Saskatoon berry was of significant economic importance to the Plains Indians, who would sun dry the fruit. OGourmet products include Saskatoon berry compote, Saskatoon berries in alcohol and Saskatoon mustard from Gourmet Sauvage.

Wild Blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium): Very sweet and delicious, either raw or cooked in myriad ways, wild blueberries are a delicacy when compared to their cultivated cousins. It is not surprising that they are so popular everywhere in Canada. Try different delicious treats, from jam or blueberry-infused pure Ceylon tea from The Dark Tickle, or compote from Gourmet Sauvage.

Wild Grape (Vitis riparia): Tangy and sharp, this wild fruit is a great accompaniment to red meats. Add to sauces, or spread on toast with brie or old cheddar. Try the jellied wild grape from Gourmet Sauvage.

Wild vegetables and food plants

Cattail (Typha latifolis): Did you know that most parts of this plant are edible and that it is considered the caviar of Canadian wild plants? If that’s the case, start your apprenticeship with cattail hearts. It evokes hearts of palm but with a more delicate taste and a finer texture. Try marinated cattail hearts from Marché Transatlantique or from Gourmet Sauvage.

Cedar (Thuja occidentalis): Also called northern white cedar, arborvitae and swamp cedar. The name arborvitae or “tree of life” dates from the 16th century when the French explorer Jacques Cartier learned from Amerindian tribes how to use the tree's foliage to treat scurvy. Follow Cartier’s example and treat yourself to jellied cedar, surprising and pleasantly scented, from Gourmet Sauvage.

Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis): Little known to consumers, the elderberry has long been popular with landscapers, gourmets and healers. The elderberry jelly from Gourmet Sauvage is sweet and tasty.

Fiddlehead (Matteuccia strupthiopteris): Among the hundreds of ferns that grow in Canada, only the ostrich fern or fiddlehead is considered a delicacy, like those produced by Gourmet Sauvage.

Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca): Also called butterfly flower, silkweed, silky swallow-wort and Virginia silkweed. To rediscover the flavours of this plant that was well-known to our ancestors, try the pickled milkweed pods offered by Marché Transatlantique, or the milkweed pod ketchup from Gourmet Sauvage.

Ox-Eye Daisy (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum): The marinated un-opened buds can be used similar to capers. Nice and delicious. Try those offered by Marché Transatlantique.

Red Spruce (Picea rubens): Red spruce is a species of spruce native to eastern North America. The leafy red spruce twigs are boiled to make spruce beer, which is sometimes an alcoholic beverage but more often a flavoured beverage. Try the spruce tips from Gourmet Sauvage. You will be pleasantly surprised!

Salicornia (Salicornia europaea): Common names for the genus include salicornia, glasswort, pickleweed, sea beans and marsh samphire. The stalk and leaves of one of our numerous edible seaside plants are delicious. Try the salicornia mustard from Gourmet Sauvage. A wonderful replacement for ordinary mustard in any recipe.

Wild mushrooms

Dried wild mushrooms receive special attention in this collection. First of all, they taste good. In fact, some of them are quite simply sublime. Because these wild products are easy to preserve, they are all offered in dried form. Place them for a few minutes in water and they recover their size and taste. Not only that, but they are easy to use. You can almost always replace ordinary mushrooms with wild mushrooms and obtain exciting new flavours. We also offer a number of recipes to help you enjoy the exquisite taste of some of these mushrooms.

The species offered by OGourmet include: Black Morel (Morchella elata), Chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius), Delicious Lactarius (Lactarius thyinos), Hedgehog Mushroom (Hydnum repandum), Honey Mushroom (Armillaria mellea), Horn of Plenty (Craterellus fallax), King Bolete (Boletus edulis), Lobster Mushroom (Hypomyces lactifluorum), Matsutake (Tricholoma matsutake), Pig's Ears (Gomphus clavatus), Pleurotus (Panellus serotinus), Swollen-Stalked Cat (Catathelasma ventricosa), Trumpet Chanterelle (Craterellus tubaeformis) and Woolly Chanterelle (Gomphrus floccosus).

All these wild mushrooms, well known to our ancestors but now exotic to us, are provided by Gaspésie Sauvage in Quebec.

Wild products at the best price possible

For all these benefits you pay no more than what you would pay in any gourmet store, if you choose to fill up your cart above the free shipping level.

Our pricing policy is simple. We offer prices on gourmet food products that are lower than those of competitors, with handling and shipping fees included. When you fill up your basket to the “free delivery” level, you'll pay less than what our competitors charge. Take advantage of this winning formula to add gourmet food products to your order so that you get free delivery.

Satisfaction guaranteed

At OGourmet, we are confident that the quality of our wild products will meet, if not exceed, your expectations. If you are not satisfied with the quality of the products received from OGourmet, we will refund or exchange them if returned within 7 days of receipt.