SummerHarvestWeb - Flipbook - Page 35
restaurants and home cooks at farmers markets. Dan’s foraging
journey began while working as a photographer in New York City
and traveling the world, where he found himself drawn to food.
“Where I went, food was the backbone, food always mattered,”
Dan explained. “I was always cooking, searching out ingredients
or methods or different cultures. I was drawn by all this food in
the background.”
Food eventually moved to the forefront of Dan’s life when a
friend of his gave him a giant mushroom, kickstarting a fascination. Cooking with foraged mushrooms added another dimension
to food, one with which regular store-bought produce couldn’t
compare. “Mushrooms are such a powerful flavor enhancer. You
can take these incredible things you can pick while you’re out on
a hike, come back and put them with whatever else you’re doing,
and you just blow minds with it.”
Soon, Dan was adding other foods to his foraging list, and in
2016, began selling his foraged food as TFF. Some of his restaurant clients include Jockey Hollow Bar & Kitchen in Morristown,
the Ryland Inn in White House Station, and Summit House in
Summit, just to name a few. All of his finds are also available to
buy at several local farmers markets, including in Sparta, Summit,
Denville, and Montclair.
Working with foraged food was the gateway into realizing how
important our food networks are, and how where our food comes
from matters. “While interacting with farmers and other likeminded people, I learned so much about how and where food really comes from,” Dan reflected. “The quality of the food you
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