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Hello, hello! Gregory Schaefer from G Word here. When I signed up to be the chef for the Ultimate Eco Cook Off, I thought it sounded like fun and wouldn?t cause me any pain. I was wrong. The pain! THE PAIN!
Oh the pain! Undoubtedly this challenge hurt more than any other! The acid from those tiny translucent needles stings! It burns bad and in an odd way...you feel something like and electric shock when you first get stabbed and the pain radiates and pulses and continues for the rest of the day. Lars and I both had this effect especially when we touched anything cold--just washing your hands set-off more throbbing.
I WAS PREPARED! I went to the Regenerative Design Institute with thick orange gloves. When my producer saw me wearing them she said, "Oh, take those off...let's see what happens." Being a well-trained monkey I obeyed and I got stung. When Matt and Rachel, our nettle experts, told me to use bare hands and pinch a leaf with force, I got stung. When they told me to eat a leaf raw, my tongue got stung. When our camera operator moved though the bushes a huge nettle plant fell on my leg and I GOT STUNG. Through my socks, through my jeans, through my shirt and through the silly latex gloves I donned at the end of the day, I GOT STUNG! If you want to play with nettles, you?re gonna play with plain!
Since the challenge I seem to be rather immune to the acid of the nettle. One a recent dog walk I came across a big patch of the tasty weeds and decided to pick some. Naturally I needed a positive ID to make sure they were nettles and figured the easiest way was to grit my teeth and sting myself. So I touched the plants and nothing happened. Again and again I touched them and didn?t feel any sting. Finally I got one to sting me but it wasn?t nearly as bad as that day of the shoot. Either I?ve built up a tolerance to the pain or these nettles lost their potency?some had flowered.
Nettles really are delicious. Much tastier than spinach, there's a slightly herbal/medicinal quality to them that replaces the slightly astringent taste in spinach. I dig it!
I'm totally blown away by the amount of work Lars did in the kitchen that day. I have no clue how he managed to make gnocchi, grill fish and crank out that sauce in under 30 minutes! It's so impressive! His food was gorgeous and healthy with pure and clean flavors.
Not that my food wasn't. I thought the spanakopita was very nice and was the first thing that came to mind when nettles were suggested?everyone says you can substitute nettles for spinach with any recipe. My yakitori was bitching! If only I hadn't burned the nettles off the chicken! And yo, I made a dessert with nettles! How cool is that? Those strawberries with nettle pesto were really yummy! Our judges asked me for the recipe when the shoot was done--that's a killer honor!
The Regenerative Design Institute is amazing! Matt and Rachel are like two badass hummingbirds and I felt like a butterfly floating around the place. We spent the day snacking on various edible flours, berries and some nettle treats they?d prepared. I?m definitely going back there, it?s one of those places where you can easily connect to the Earth and feel some deep rooted vibrational energy?and get some great eats!
Love green gadgets, fashion, and news? Get the latest from Planet Green's dynamic duo Suchin Pak and Daniel Sieberg on the G Word.
Salivating over sustainable eats? Learn how to make your own with help from Emeril Lagasse in Planet Green TV's organic cooking show, Emeril Green.
