Foraging for food in the wilderness with Pascal Baudar

Wild food forager and author Pascal Baudar embarks on a day of exploration in the Angeles National Forest.

Pascal Baudar said he was raised with a tradition of foraging growing up in Belgium, and since 1999 he has brought his knowledge and skills to finding the flavor of California.

Pascal Baudar is the author of “The New Wildcrafted Cuisine: Exploring the Exotic Gastronomy of Local Terroir.”

Pascal Baudar finds California buckwheat flowers.

Pascal Baudar discovers miner’s lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata), which is a fine wild salad green.

Pascal Baudar finds California sagebrush in the Angeles National Forest. “Dried, it’s great on steak,” he says.

Pascal Baudar sniffs out the herb California everlasting (Pseudognaphalium californicum) during a recent foraging expedition inside the Angeles National Forest.

Pascal Baudar finds the edible filaree plant.

Wild food forager and author Pascal Baudar pcks through miner’s lettuce.

L.A. forager Pascal Baudar finds food in the forest and turns it into whimsical dishes. His first book, “The New Wildcrafted Cuisine,” comes out in April.

After a morning of foraging, Pascal Baudar prepares to cook by washing his hands with yucca leaf.

Wild yeast made from California juniper berries.

A jar of mountain vinegar, which contains manzanita cider vinegar, white fir, juniper berries, pine needles, turkey tail mushrooms and piñon pine needles.

Cheese with a wild spice blend.

Cheese and crackers the Baudar way: with cricket hummus, black walnuts, yucca shoots, wild radish, olives, yellow flower mustard greens, chickweed and white radish pods.

A glass of Mountain Shrub -- a mix of mountain vinegar (manzanita cider vinegar, white fir, juniper berries, pine needles, turkey tail mushrooms, piñon pine needles) and local raw honey with some added ice and seltzer water.

Pascal Baudar puts together crackers and cheese with cricket hummus, black walnuts, yucca shoots, wild radish, olives, yellow flower mustard greens, chickweed and white radish pods.

Pascal Baudar’s dish Pears on the Forest Floor is finished off with a drizzle of California nocino.

Pascal Baudar pours some homemade mugwort beer.

With only a small burner, Pascal Baudar prepares a tasting of goat with pickled wild seeds.

What’s left of the great outdoors after a tasting of goat with pickled wild seeds.