- I do love the dissemination of natural history information through a series like this.

And you can learn a lot about wild harvesting by watching this show.

You can learn a lot by going online.

You can learn a lot by reading books, but there is absolutely no substitute when it comes to safely harvesting, for going out with a seasoned expert, someone who truly knows the plants, the fungi, the trees that you're hoping to enjoy.

So get out there, enjoy your wild harvest, but do it safely, and do it with an expert.

You know, 100, maybe 200 years ago, forests like this were cleared.

The trees taken for logging, all the land turned into farms.

You can see the evidence everywhere.

You do a hike in the woods, and there are those long rock walls.

Evidence telling the story of what once was.

And that story was the harvesting of crops to eat.

Now the farmers are long gone, but what remains, other than a few rock walls, and some fallen down log cabins, are the trees and plants still thriving, and waiting for you to come along and enjoy your own wild harvest.

(uplifting music) - [Paul] Old cabin back in there.

- [Les] And then, I mean, look at the size of the pine tree.

It's huge, and that one, these are all sister pines.

- [Paul] Wild.

- Here we are.

- [Paul] Wow, this is one old tree.

- So let's just get into this.

I'm gonna pass you down some apples.

(upbeat music) Actually, you know what?

Pass me the the pruners now.

This tree is so old, you can't really trust these big branches.

Oh yeah, can you pull that closer to me?

There we go, okay.

Got it?

- [Paul] Almost, yep.

- That's gotta be enough, hey?

- [Paul] That's enough.

- All right.

- The color on these is amazing.

- Isn't that beautiful?

I was here, oh, I wanna say three weeks ago, that's when I gathered what I have for you back at the kitchen.

But I came out here the other day, I was actually just jogging with the dogs.

I thought, oh, they look so much more ripe now.

They're so red and beautiful.

Let's have a taste.

- [Paul] For you, one for me.

- That's good!

- That's really good, what a bright flavor.

- Oh, and the juice.

People have this thing, there's a, what do they call it?

Urban legend, urban myth, old wives tale, crab apples are poisonous.

The reality is, you know what distinguishes crab apple from an apple?

- The size?

- Size.

- Yeah.

- They're all apples.

So what I love about this location is you've got these trees.

Now someone can say, oh yeah, that tree's gone feral.

What's that mean?

It just means it's never been pruned.

It's just been allowed to grow.

It didn't go feral, you know, and so these apples are still delicious.

I'll bet you that tree was planted a hundred years ago.

I mean, at least 50 to 75.

- These are huge.

- And this is delicious.

- Yeah, they're big.

These are really easy to work with.

- Okay, let's pick some apples and get back to the kitchen.

You know, you come to some old homestead and you never know what has been planted there before that's still growing, and so you go and it's like, wow, we're in the middle of the bush here and we've got an apple tree.

I mean, come on, this is pretty cool.

This is beyond survival at this point.

This is about really enjoying some good food.

- I'm sitting here on a pile of rocks and they've been put here by somebody at some point in time, a long time ago, my guess is, and when I look straight ahead, I see an old wooden structure that's kind of fallen in on itself.

The wood's all rotted.

And you know, I'm thinking back to that crab apple tree.

Somebody planted that years and years ago.

That tree is huge.

It's been around probably for a couple of generations, if not more.

And as I'm thinking about it and I'm tasting it and sensing it, it's like I'm eating on the same food that the people that probably moved these rocks and built that structure, ate so many years ago.

It's a common thread and I think that's really cool.

(melodic music) ♪ It doesn't seem to matter ♪ It's neither here nor there ♪ When you walk in the wilderness ♪ ♪ Where your life is in such a mess, ♪ ♪ You can feel her care ♪ I'm here for you ♪ Heaven knows ♪ I'm here for anyone who feels alone ♪ ♪ I'm here for you ♪ Heaven knows ♪ I'm here for anyone that feels alone ♪ ♪ Who needs a home - Here you go, Paul.

You're very own harvest of crab apples.

So three weeks ago we gathered some crab apples.

You weren't here yet.

And I was worried, will I miss the harvest?

Clearly I didn't because you and I got to go out and get some more apples.

- These ones.

- Right, so here are our apples from three weeks ago, which I want you to try first, and then here's the apples that you and I gathered and then here's the sauce.

Now also, while I was making the sauce, if you recall, I think I asked, do you want it to be jam?

Do you want it to be jelly?

Do you want it to be syrup?

What do you think, and you said, just gimme the mash.

So that's it.

So let's do this together though.

We'll start with the three weeks ago apples, which I've kept in the crisper.

- Okay, my first thought before biting into it, I'm expecting sour, like a really big, sour candy bomb.

That's my thought.

- And there it is.

Holy mackerel.

So this mash are these apples.

- Okay.

- Okay, all right, let's give this one to the squirrels, and go with apple number two.

Look how much redder they are.

- They look like cherries.

- Yeah, let's see the difference three weeks makes.

- Mm, wow, what a difference.

- This one, the texture, like it's all, it's hard to talk 'cause my mouth was covered in like a paste almost but it's sweet, and it's apple, distinctively apple.

- All right, so some more for the squirrels.

- So sauce time?

- Now we go to the sauce.

- Tastes like apple sauce.

- It does, that's good.

Okay, you've had three tastes here.

Same ingredient, what are you thinking?

- I know this sounds odd, I was kind of having this kind of ketchup experience 'cause ketchup can be tangy.

Like homemade ketchup especially can be tangy.

So I'm thinking maybe I'll work with this in, well, like a crab apple ketchup.

- And we still have some of the shelf fungus, the chicken of the woods.

- Yeah, we do.

- And you're gonna play with that then?

- So you know what, I've actually got an idea.

It's gonna be fun.

The crap apple mash, is what Les called it, is delicious.

It's got a lot of flavor on its own but I also want to amplify that crab apple flavor.

The mash is perfect for making a delicious iced dessert.

Big on flavor and refreshingly cold.

Monk sugar in there to start with.

Little mix, a little pinch of salt, not much.

Little more taste here.

There we go.

So a little bit in there and a little bit in this one as well.

Now that just has to go to the freezer.

Okay, I really want to use a combination of the tart crab apples that were harvested a couple of weeks ago and the fresh ones that we just picked.

The balance of the sweet and the tangy is really kind of the foundation of making ketchup layered with spices.

All right, I've got some tangy ones and I've got some sweet ones, and I also have the mash that Les had made previously, which is delicious.

Yeah, what the heck?

Okay, now this is where the spices come in.

A little chili.

I like a bit of heat to my ketchup, cider vinegar, just to make sure I hit that tangy home run.

Couple of bay leaves.

For my sweetener, I think I will use honey.

I'll start there.

Touch of clove, not too much.

A hint of cinnamon and the old favorite garlic powder.

And now it's time to add fire.

(melodic music) All right, let's see where it's at.

Ketchup.

(melodic music) - All right, it's just time for me to have a quick look.

See how this is doing.

Ah, I'm a little bit relieved right now.

It's the right texture.

At first I thought it might be a little bit too thin, and if it was, that's okay.

I just cook it longer, let it reduce, let it thicken.

And the color, I gotta be honest, that makes me pretty happy right now.

(upbeat music) - All right, time for plant ID.

This beauty is Malus, apple.

Now, is it pirate's Malus or some other kind of Malus?

I don't know yet, I'd have to do a deep dive into identifying it, but it's definitely an apple tree.

And how do we know that?

Well for some generalities of plant identification, let's start with the leaves.

These are listed as being alternate leaves, which means you've got one growing out one side of the stem, one growing out the other side of the stem, and so on and so forth.

But if you look at these, honestly, it's kind of hard to tell that.

They almost seem random.

You have to get a nice healthy specimen where everything's growing in the order that it's supposed to and then you can kind of go with like a leaf and a leaf and a leaf and a leaf, and you got this alternate.

Okay, alternating leaves, all right.

Next thing is the leaf itself.

And often this shape will be described as elliptical or lance shaped, also toothed.

The edges of this leaf are toothed.

If the blooms were here, if the flowers were on this tree, they tend to be, or they are five showy petals.

Now notice I said there are five showy petals.

And you have to think about that.

You're looking at the flower in the spring, and there's five petals and they look beautiful.

That's showy.

And the other way with the apple tree, of course, is the fruit.

The way of doing a distinction here is between crab apples and apples.

How do you tell?

They're all just apples, and it's just size.

In fact, even the books will say if it's bigger than five centimeters, it's a domestic apple or it's a regular apple.

And if it's smaller than five centimeters, it's a crab apple.

And guess what, flavor?

Same thing, I've tasted crab apples that were sweet and delicious and tart.

And I've done the same thing with regular apples.

So checking out the fruit, which most of you know.

All right, beautiful.

That's an apple.

That's an apple.

- I'm really happy that from a previous harvest, I have some chicken of the woods left over.

Now, when I experimented with the chicken of the woods the very first time, I sauteed them in little slivers and they reminded me of french fries.

They had a crispy outside and a tender inside.

And I've got this kind of vision of french fries and ketchup but both from the wild harvest.

(melodic music) - Oh yeah, well, Paul, first time you've ever made french fries for me.

I mean, I'm calling 'em french fries.

You can call 'em.

- French fries.

- French fries.

And you know what, it looks beautiful.

It just looks beautiful.

- These plates are really nice, I have to be honest.

Here we go, fries and crab apple ketchup.

- Mmm mmm.

Don't take this the wrong way, but that's way better than I thought it was gonna be.

- That's two of us.

- This was better than aioli, wow.

- I love the color - Now, the color is beautiful.

- I will say that my ketchup, when it was by itself, I was thinking, yeah, it's really robust.

It's not as strong as I thought it was.

- I wouldn't say it's robust.

I'd say it's delicate and light, but I'm loving it.

Here, Antonio, you gotta have a bite of this.

- It's so crispy.

- Phenomenal, I'm excited to see what you have planned next for the crab apples.

(upbeat music) - I am curious how mac and cheese will pair with my ketchup.

Got some oil, beautiful.

When I think about going back in time and what cooking at the homestead could have been like, I imagine simple and comforting food.

You know, I can make something complicated with a lot of details and steps to carry out in the kitchen, but sometimes you just gotta have fun, especially when it's a wild harvest.

So I'm going with mac and cheese and I'm thinking barbecue chicken just might be the right protein to go along for the ride.

And finishing dinner with a crab apple frozen ice could be ideal.

I love using heavy cream to make the base of a cheese sauce and melting in a big, bold, sharp, old cheddar cheese makes it both decadent and forthright in flavor.

(melodic music) I don't know about you guys, but that says cheese to me.

(melodic music) Barbecue sauce comes down to two simple things, tang and sweetness at the balance of, and then add in layers of spice.

Different notes.

Makes it fun, makes it playful.

Always goes well with smoke.

I think this crab apple ketchup that I made yesterday is gonna be perfect for making a barbecue sauce.

Adding ingredients to the crab apple ketchup like mustard, hot sauce, vinegar, and a touch more salt, punctuate and compliment the flavors already present in the sauce.

They also help to add enough oomph to stand up and compliment the smoky taste from the barbecue.

Wow, have to get the chicken going.

(melodic music) You know, I can't get over how amazing it is that I'm sharing the fruit of a tree that was planted so many years ago with the people who planted it.

I think homestead, I think of home, I think of comfort.

I think of simple and delicious food.

And there's nothing more comforting as a good barbecue chicken dinner with side of mac and cheese of course.

- [Les] Ho ho ho, that's what I'm talking about.

Looks good Paul.

- [Paul] Well, I'm kind of excited about this one.

(melodic music) - Cheers, always.

- Cheers.

- Cheers first, thanks man.

All right, it's on you.

I mean, I can guess at what you've done here, and of course I knew what you were planning, but you tell me, what was the idea here?

- Okay, so you've got the ketchup from yesterday.

- [Les] Ketchup.

- Yep and I was thinking, what goes best with ketchup, mac and cheese.

It's an American classic.

So I thought I would play around with that a little bit.

Then I used the ketchup as the base to make a barbecue sauce.

- Mm, let's not get ahead of ourselves here.

Let's stick with the mac and cheese because oh my gosh, that's really good.

So first thing was the crab apple ketchup.

I don't even know what I'm eating with that sauce.

Like I, that's not a ketchup or aioli or kind of, or mayo or any kind of sauce that I could say, oh, that's that.

It's this, it's got its own language going on here and it's a good language.

- [Paul] I'm going in for the chicken.

I'm really curious.

- [Les] All right.

Wow, I wasn't expecting that.

So, because it's not far off in a visual from the ketchup, which is pretty sweet and delicious.

Oh, I gotta, you know what, I wanna try that again.

You tell me what you think.

- I'm not gonna lie, I'm really happy.

I'm really happy how that turned out because it tastes like barbecue sauce, better than store-bought.

- The combination in both dishes, the ketchup and the mac and cheese, the barbecue sauce and the chicken, I could not ask for it to be any better or any different.

It's perfect.

It's spot on in terms of combination.

- [Paul] Right on.

- Oh, you guys are gonna like this.

(melodic music) ♪ Don't wait till tomorrow - All right, thought I might find you down here.

- Hey, hey.

- What a perfect night, here, I got a treat for you.

♪ What if there's only today - Oh yeah, this side.

♪ I'm here for you ♪ Heaven knows ♪ I'm here for anyone ♪ who feels alone ♪ Who needs a home - [Les] If you'd like to continue the Wild Harvest with me and Chef Paul Rogalski, then please check out our website at wildharvestfilms.com where we have recipes and foraging tips, along with deleted scenes and outtakes from the making of "Les Strouds Wild Harvest."

- [Announcer] Directly inspired by the series, Chef Paul and expert forager Les Stroud, bring you the Wild Harvest Recipe book, highlighting all of Paul's dishes and complete with behind the scenes stories.

It is available for 29.99.

In addition, a DVD of this season is also available for 19.99. to order, please go to Wildharvestfilms.com, Wild Harvest TV show on Facebook or Les Strouds Wild Harvest on YouTube.

(melodic music)