The Perennial Plate Episode 92: Little Radish from Daniel Klein on Vimeo.

Kids are in a lot of our videos – they are cute and they are the future. In this week’s episode we visit a school garden and take a class on radishes with Ashley Rouse of Georgia Organics. Its our last video (of three) in Georgia and its short but sweet.

Southeast Asia ain’t just for the meat eaters anymore. Yes, the bustling markets are full of pig heads, plucked chickens and even dog meat (in some cases), the real pho (you know, the stuff of foodie dreams) is made from stewed beef bones, and Im pretty sure I saw a live cow strapped to the back of a moving moped….but a vegetarian can find him or herself right at home there as well.

I wont lie to you: Vietnamese street food isnt for the carnivore-aversive, and Im half convinced if you play their national anthem backwards you will hear the words “fish sauce” over and over again in different languages. But in most cases, you can find something to delight your vegetarian senses — and you will be less likely to end up on a sleeper train to Hue vomiting repeatedly in the process *true story*. Granted, there were no ingredient lists (and a slight language barrier) so the rich deliciousness of my meals probably had more to do with some sort of pork broth and less to do with soy protein water. But I digress… my stomach was quite happy in Vietnam. And for good reason.

Some may cry blasphemy if you suggest omitting duck pâté from a bánh mì or shrimp and pork from bánh xèo, but I disagree. No one knows mock meat like the Vietnamese (sorry Mom — though you are very good at seasoning tofu). Over 70% of the country’s population is Buddhist or strongly influenced by Buddhist practices. Meaning for two days out of each month, the majority of the country abstains from meat, and instead only eats a wide variety of items that remind them of it in every way.

Faux isnt the only area where the country shines: overflowing bowls of basil, cilantro and other beautiful herbs accompany almost every dish. They are so fresh and delicious, I would have happily wrapped a paper napkin around a handful and eaten them with duck sauce. But I was too busy salivating over unripe jackfruit, which may be the best thing that ever happened to a vegetarian.  We weren’t in the country for more than 3 days when I was presented with heaven in the form of a dish that looked like pulled chicken, tasted like artichokes and I am still not convinced wasnt laced with crack. I ate the fruit repeatedly until I got to the point where the thought of it now makes me sick. It is that good.

But it’s not all good news. Vietnam is the place where vegetarian’s dreams are made… and then broken. Noodles, rice and spring rolls can easily come any way you like it, but somehow cant be repeated in the same perfection outside of the country. The opportunity for real mango smoothies (as in a guy behind the counter cutting up just-picked mango and blending it till it fits through a straw) becomes practically obsolete once you step into the airport. ..At least you cant get them for $1 over here.

Vietnam set me up only to be let down when I returned to my home turf. I haven’t yet found a an American-made Vietnamese dish on par with the freshness, depth and mouthwatering perfection of Vietnam. And I wasnt able to bring any presents home because my backpack was half full of  ”just in case” stale granola, of which I barely made a dent.  It’s fine. my 2-year old nieces don’t really need a full scale ceramic dragon anyways.

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Special thanks to Intrepid Travel for making this trip possible… and to Hạnh Nguyễn, who made sure there were vegetarian options wherever we dined.

WARNING: do not watch if you are hungry and are without easy access to Vietnamese food.  We are interrupting our weekly Perennial Plate episodes to bring you a cool little video we made.  Last month we were invited to go on a Intrepid Travel trip to Vietnam for 2 weeks.  Our assignment was to document this food focused journey across the country.  We are really proud of the video and wanted to share it with you.   Thanks and look out for Vietnam related  pictures, recipes and blogs this week.

We were just in Vietnam filming a food video for Intrepid Travel.  One of our favorite activities was a cooking class from a pretty phenomenal Chef.   One of the many dishes she taught us was an easy and delicious salad that is quite common in Vietnam.  Usually its main ingrediets are green mango or green papaya; sometimes it has dried beef or jellyfish as well.  However, wanting to do a more Minnesota version, I used rutabaga, turnip and celery root. Add fish sauce and other goodness, and it’s basically a badass slaw with underused root vegetables.  Enjoy.

• 200 grams each of juliened celery root, turnip and rutabaga (a small celery root, average sized rutabaga and a large turnip — don’t worry about being exact)
• 1/2 a red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 bunch watercress
• 1 bunch cilantro (chopped into bite sized pieces)
• 3 Tablespoons toasted sunflower seeds
• 1 Tablespoon sunflower oil
• 3 Tablespoons lime juice
• 2 Tablespoons honey
• 3 teaspoons fish sauce
• 2 teaspoon minced garlic

In a bowl combine the lime juice, fish sauce and honey.  Mix thoroughly and let sit for a few minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.  In a larger bowl add together all of the other ingredients (except the sunflower seeds).  Add most of the fish sauce and taste the mixture.  If you need more “oomph”, add the remaining dressing.  Serve with the sunflower seeds on top as well as some of the watercress and cilantro.  Another great addition is fried shallots.

There have been a lot of Farm to Table dinners over the years, and a lot of videos about those meals. We are here to end all that. This Southern Feast shares the story of the farmers, foragers and chefs that made up an event we were a part of in Georgia. I think it captures the fun, drinking, passion and ideals that go into this interactive dining experience. Please enjoy and share.

This episode is about our brief interaction with a wonderful Bhutanese family we met in Atlanta. They are part of a community garden that integrates refugee farmers from around the world by giving them a piece of land to grow vegetables. Despite the challenges of communicating together, we picked some crops, cooked a meal together and enjoyed each others company. This was one of our favorite days on the trip.

If you havent heard, Invasive Species are huge these days: both in the consciousness of sustainable food fans, and in the way they are ruining everything we’ve come to love (our crops, dogs, lawns, native fish, and overall ecology). I’ve had the opportunity to meet with a number of invasive species community members over the past 6 months, and I can tell you this — if you fall under the category of Feral Pig, Canadian Goose, Asian Carp, Florida Iguana, Garlic Mustard or Kudzu, stop reading this now and run and hide. Because everyone is trying to kill you.

And not just “kill you” in a casual, “bring down their numbers” sort of way. People are hanging out of helicopters, wielding machine guns and wearing magazine belts, doing their best to completely eradicate these animals. Obviously, I’m referring to Texas here. But they aren’t the only ones working towards a invasive-free society.  The city of Boca Grande, Florida has hired a man to drive around in a golf cart and shoot iguanas;  the state of Illinois has allowed fisherman to “fish the hell out of” (I’m paraphrasing) Asian Carp; And though I don’t think the state government had anything to do with the water skiier in full football padding, outfitted with a sword and a wolverine glove slicing fish in half as they fly out of the water (thank you YouTube), they weren’t too upset about it.

Maybe they have a point. Asian Carp were introduced to the U.S. in the 60s and have since been quickly making our little country their home. They threaten native species by out-competing our fish for the plankton that forms the base of the aquatic food chain. So in the words of our youth, they are f-ing sh*t up…and reproducing at alarming rates. One fisherman in Illinois told us when he first got out on the Peoria River a few years ago, it was so packed with carp his boat motor would slice through hundreds at a time. To make matters worse, silver carp can jump 10 feet out of the water, which has resulted in injuries to boaters when a giant fish hits them in the face. (This is not funny. Though I can see how it would read that way.)

In December of last year, DNA tests found signs of Asian Carp above the Coon Rapids Dam upstream of Minneapolis and people are (for good reason) worrying that it will hurt the lakes’ $7 billion fishing industry. Last week, the Outdoor Heritage Council said they will recommend that MN Legislature increase legacy funds spent on fighting invasive species from the current $3 million to $5.5 million. There are also proposals to create a U of M Aquatic Invasive Species Center to keep tabs on the 180 invasive species in the Great Lakes and 140 in the Mississippi River.

So, things could be better. And I’m not even yet talking about the feral pigs who kill your dog and ruin your crops, but since you brought it up… In certain parts of Texas, there are more pigs than people. In certain parts of California, young campers are given instructions on what to do if a wild, rabid pig runs through your cabin. (In fact, feral pigs are considered the most popular game species in California). And if you’re a farmer anywhere in the South, you hire volunteers like forester Mark J. Hainds (an expert on invasive pigs, and author of Year of the Pig) to come during the middle of the night and “take care” of your problem.

“If you eat food,” Hainds explains, “You do not want feral pigs spreading into our major agricultural areas. Because, if a given property has adjacent high pig populations, most agricultural crops are rendered unfeasible.” So it’s not so surprising that Hainds’ services come in handy. “One family unit of pigs can wipe out a field of corn, peanuts or other vegetables if the unwary landowner leaves crops unprotected,” he explains.

“Feral pigs, if left unchecked, wipe out native plant and animal species. But, unlike other invasive species, these have several positive attributes that under some circumstances, may balance out the negative consequences of allowing populations to persist.” For example, they are fun to hunt. And the meat according to Hainds is “vastly preferable to the tasteless meat produced by agricultural behemoths that nearly wiped out the family farmer.”

However if you wipe out this sustainable source of tasty meat (as most places across america are advocating), it will be right back to that same tasteless stuff from the grocery store. So maybe eradication isnt the only answer? “With enough hunters and appropriate regulations,” Hainds tells us, “feral hog populations may be kept in check, and may be considered a renewable resource.”

For vegetarians whose sole purpose of their food choice is sustaining the environment, eating invasive species is about as sustainable as you can get. But for other vegetarians (like myself) who don’t want to kill animals for their own consumption, or for any reason… there’s got to be another answer to the problem. Come on, invasive species were introduced to this country at no fault of their own, but rather due to the irresponsible actions of humans (ie. feral pigs were brought here by the Spanish in the 1700s). So the current idea of killing as many as possible seems unfair. But do we have any other options to manage these numbers?

Maybe. According to Wildlife Scientist Stephanie L. Boyles Griffin of The Humane Society of the United States’ Wildlife and Habitat Protection Department: “Since every state has different laws governing the management of wild pigs, and there are currently no federal laws that prohibit the interstate trafficking of these animals, as quickly as some states implement plans in an attempt to eradicate them, others are transporting them across state lines and introducing them back into the environment.  It’s a vicious cycle and the best way to end it is to work with state and federal legislators to establish new laws and strengthen existing laws prohibiting the transport and intra- and interstate sale and commerce of wild pigs for the purpose of stocking hunting grounds and canned hunt facilities. Only then can we work towards the implementation of effective, humane, sustainable, effective solutions, such as development and use of immunocontraception vaccines to stabilize and reduce wild pig populations over time.”

Over time. But what about in the meantime? As Griffin explains, “we must oppose the use of primitive and unnecessarily cruel hunting practices in which pigs are harassed, gunned down with machine guns and/or attacked by dogs to the point of exhaustion before being killed (often being knifed to death, and in some states, hunters are allowed to kill pigs with spears).” Though it is a good point, it isn’t a solution to the current problem. The Humane Society has been implementing successful tactics to resolve the invasive Canada Geese population in both urban and rural areas. So they may just be on to something.

But at a time when even the most conscientious and sensitive Vegetarians (myself included) are still killing animals by their diet choices, who knows what the best answer is to the question of managing invasive species? Let’s be honest, fields full of corn, peanuts and any other grapes are certainly not in their native form. So essentially, we’re trying to wipe out invasives that are hurting our invasive farming practices. And if we’re gonna go there, most of us aren’t exactly “natives” either.

Regardless of what side of the coin your find yourself on, I highly recommend reading Hainds’ book. And whether or not you advocate hunting, eating meat, animal rights or sustainability, invasive species are a real and present issue, and I think we need everyone to enter the debate to find a sensible solution.

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John McEntire says he’s the only person in the world that grows Crooked Creek Corn, a once common crop in the South East.  On our trip to his North Carolina farm, John shared stories and tastes of his heirloom corn and the moonshine it can produce, as well as a drink of the sweet juice made from sorghum and the molasses it reduces into.  The south in two crops.

On our way across North Carolina, we stopped to chat with some Native American Farmers trying to change the food and work situation in their communities.  Plagued with high poverty rates and little access to good food, these folks were inspiring in their efforts to farm in a sustainable way.

We’ve made films about hunting pigs and squirrels, about fishing for trout and diving for sea urchin, and we’ve seen the farming of many different types of animals for food.  This episode is about NOT eating meat.  At “farms” across the country, some very compassionate people are providing a sanctuary for animals to live out their lives without fear of being eaten.  At Star Gazing Farm in Maryland, we filmed one shining example.