FOOD & DRINK
Developing a chef’s eye As a concept, foraging certainly is nothing new. Before human beings became an agricultural society, before we started raising animals for food, we were hunter-gatherers out of necessity, and we obtained everything we needed to survive through collecting wild plants and pursuing wild animals.
As times have changed, this labor-intensive approach to hunting or gathering everything has become less common—unless people make a concerted effort to embrace it.
Which is precisely what chefs like Knoll have done.
For him, foraging was always intriguing, a natural extension of a love of the outdoors. One of Knoll’s earliest influences was the work of French chef Michel Bras, whose cooking and hospitality in the Aubrac region of Southern France has influenced so many chefs today. Bras would forage and sketch his ideas as he walked the hills of his childhood village. His work is, at once, technically perfect and natural. That became Knoll’s goal as well.
Over the 15 years of cooking at Jordan, Knoll has familiarized himself with many of the estate’s most prolific spots during his morning hikes, noting and photographing where he can find certain edibles at specific times of year. For Knoll, it all starts with the same simple question: What can we add not only in flavor, but in story and the overall experience itself? “When guests visit the winery, there is so much to convey in a short time,” he says. “We take great pride in the effort.”
With its vast diversity of typography and soils, the 1,200-acre Jordan Estate is a forager’s dream. The Jordans made a conscious decision long ago not to overdevelop the land, so much of the estate has been left wild. In addition, the property boasts a multitude of microclimates—mini ecosystems that each support different kinds of life, which means the list of wild foods and spices found on Jordan Estate is never-ending. Native herbs thrive here, such as sage, yerba buena and coyote mint, as well as various alliums, California bay and the elusive bay nut, wild fennel, prickly pear, porcini and even the prized Amanita velosa mushroom in spring. Coyote mint and miner’s lettuce can be found near Jordan’s new apiary, and the wild fennel pops up along the winery driveway each August, its yellow umbrella-like blooms almost waving to the guests as they arrive. Visitors who partake in the winery’s seasonal Vineyard Hikes walk right past the prickly pear cactuses and cross through a meadow of chamomile blooming in spring. Especially after a rainfall, the fragrant flowers can leave hiking boots smelling like perfume for days.
“So many of us are accustomed to the scent of chamomile,” Knoll says. “But when you grab fresh wildflowers and rub them between your palms, the fragrance is incredible. It’s far more powerful than the floral notes you find in a store-bought tea.”
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