Wild Food Foraging- Grape Leaf Chips

today making a zesty snack using wild grape leaves that's really good simple flavorful and healthy what's not to love about wild grape leaves it's like a huge chip grape leaves are a good source of nutrients including vitamin C e a K and B 6 plus niacin iron fiber riboflavin folate calcium magnesium copper and manganese so let's get started there are literally dozens of different wild grape species that grow across North America and Europe but they are all generally the same however it is a good idea to research the species of wild grape that can be found in your area this particular species is called riverbank grape and it is one of the most common types of wild grape plants that can be found in North America wild grape is fairly easy to recognize with its creeping vines and large distinct leaves they're pretty hard to miss they also grow in areas where people commonly pass by such as roadsides fence lines forest edges and of course along riverbanks sometimes wild grapes will also grow in hardwood forests but if they do it will usually be in a clearing that's because wild grapes cannot grow in the shade but they thrive in areas with plenty of sun exposure they use their tendrils to climb trees shrubs and to creep along the ground in search of more sunlight although this looks like a large bush this is actually a tree that has been completely swallowed by grapevines the suffocated tree is likely dead now and all that can be seen through the thick tangle of vines is its trunk it is because of their climbing habit that wild grapes are notorious for suffocating the trees and bushes that surround them before I get into how to properly identify harvest and prepare grape leaves I want to warn you that there is a poisonous look-alike called moon seed every part of the Moon seed plant is toxic to ingest which is why you don't want to be confusing it with wild grape although they are similar in appearance there are ways of telling wild grape apart from poisonous moon seed which I will cover in just a moment and just to be clear the only plant I will be showing in this video is riverbank grape while grape leaves are very unique in appearance and they grow quite large once they've reached maturity grape leaves usually have three to five lobes however most of the great leaves on these vines have three lobes as you can see the edges or margins of a grape leaf are sawtooth in design and the stem of each leaf is connected directly to the Leafs edge a grape leaf is also heart-shaped where it connects to the stem it is smooth on the top and slightly fuzzy on the underside although wild grapes don't produce much fruit you should be able to find clusters of grapes among them if you look carefully enough since it is midsummer the grapes aren't ready to pick indicated by their green color they will be ready to harvest in late summer into the autumn season and they are the sweetest when picked directly after the first frost here are what wild grapes look like in the fall when they're ready to pick as you can see they are a very dark blue in color in fact they're almost black wild grapes are very healthy to eat but they will be more tart than store-bought grapes and much smaller wild grapes contain multiple seeds in each fruit anywhere from two to six wild grape seeds have a teardrop shape to them as well in a previous episode I made juice from wild grapes but today we'll be sticking with the leaves now let's talk about the four main differences between wild grape and moon seed number one wild grape leaves have sawtooth margins moon seed leaves have smooth margins number two while grape stems are attached directly to the edge of the leaf while moon seed stems are attached slightly inward from the edge number three wild grapes have multiple seeds in each fruit that are teardrop in shape moon seed has only one seed per fruit which is shaped like a crescent moon this is where it gets its name from while some moon seeds seeds can be best described as shaped like a letter D number four wild grape vines have tendrils which they use to climb moon seed vines do not have tendrils and so they climb by twisting themselves now that I've properly identified this plant as a wild grape it's time to harvest the leaves personally I like the medium-sized leaves the best that's because I sometimes find that the small ones are too mild in flavor and the big ones are sometimes too woody and texture the medium ones are just right when you're picking make sure not to accidentally pick a leaf or fruit from a different plant that the grape vine might be growing on here's a perfect example of what I mean in the midst of all the grape leaves here's a branch from another plant jutting out from underneath it is easy to tell the leaves apart but if I wasn't paying attention I might have accidentally picked them anyway this wouldn't have been good if they were poisonous since wild grapes have a tendency to smother other plants this will have to be something you pay close attention to anyway I really do enjoy the taste of grape leaves they're surprisingly tender and can be eaten raw provided they are clean and what does a wild grape leaf taste like well they actually taste like a slightly tart grape they are sweet with a tangy zip after trying a few leaves to gauge their taste some vines might have better tasting leaves and others I picked a small batch and brought them home along with being eaten raw grape leaves can also be boiled and they can even be wrapped around fish and cooked so that the zesty grape flavor will be infused into the meat there are also plenty of recipes out there for a famous dish called stuffed grape leaves however today I will be making my grape leaves into crispy chips and the only two things I need to do it are a frying pan and some olive oil each leaf only needs to be fried for about 30 seconds or so in the pan before they can be removed once the leaf turns slightly brown on both sides you can remove it from the pan to cool as it cools it will become crispy I've also fried grape leaves and butter but olive oil is the obvious choice when it comes to keeping things healthy and to be honest I prefer olive oil anyway the olive oil seems to do the best job at preserving the zesty grape flavor of the leaves anyway there you go a snack that's good and good for you until next time my friends

Channel: The Outsider

Views: 161,818

Keywords: grape, leaf, wild, riverbank, edible, outsidefun1, outsider, vine, leaves, forage, survival, bear grylls, les stroud, ray mears, foraging, food

Id: n-UhCJbtHyE

Length: 7min 34sec (454 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 06 2016