Wild Food Festival ’24
Did you know India has over 1,000 reported wild edible plants? This lush world of herbs, flowers, berries, leaves, vegetables, mushrooms, and tubers is often beyond reach, especially for city-dwellers.
In an attempt to bring these two worlds together, The Locavore first collaborated with our #TLpartner OOO Farms for the Wild Food Festival back in 2022. As a collective of farmers from Maharashtra and Gujarat, OOO Farms’ work towards preserving indigenous rice and native crops is really inspiring to us.
And that’s why we couldn’t be more excited to partner with them again! This year, the Wild Food Festival’s 6th edition supported Adivasi communities from Maharashtra’s Sahyadri mountains—the Koknis, Warlis, Mahadeo Kolis, Katkaris, and Bhils—and their hyper-local wild foods, with a few delicious surprises along the way.
A Once-A-Year Tasting Experience
We began the afternoon by tasting 40 wild monsoon ingredients like the Indian thorny bamboo, fatangdi, kurdu, malabar embelia, kharshinga, and so many more. Following this was a 30-dish buffet dinner foraged and cooked by tribal farmers from Palghar and Ahmednagar using diverse wild ingredients.
Wild Food Thali. Photo by OOO Farms.
Wild Food-Inspired High Tea
(L) Shailesh Awate, co-founder of OOO Farms, speaking to students at Rizvi College of Hotel Management. Photo by ChefTZac. (R) Khurasni Herb Creamed Mushroom Medley Quiche by Subko, which was served at the festival.
This year, we also partnered with Rizvi College of Hotel Management in Bandra, Mumbai, as our festival venue. We have also been training the institution’s third-year students on the rich diversity of wild foods found in Maharashtra.
Attendees got to taste the fruits of their learning through a wild food-inspired high tea and snacks at the festival which included Bamboo Crumble with Apple Sauce; Mahua, Guava and Black Pepper Ice Cream; Kurdu Shahi Roll, and more! Alongside this, they also got to taste dishes curated by top chefs and restaurants from Mumbai, including a Khurasni Herb Creamed Mushroom Medley Quiche by Subko!
Extensive Ingredient & Seed Displays
Photo by Team Locavore.
A showcase of nearly 200 wild vegetables from the Sahyadri mountains and a display of the OOO Farms’ community seed bank.
Thought-Provoking Sessions with Leading Experts
Farmer-scientist Debal Deb speaking at the WIld Food Festival 2022.
Eminent conservationists, anthropologists, scientists, and chefs discussed the importance of non-cultivated wild foods. Speakers included Dhinda Baba, Shailesh from OOO Farms, Dr. Debal Deb, and ChefTZac.
The Locavore Zone
Caption: (L) The Longing for Home Food booth at Serendipity Arts Festival 2023. (R) The Wild Food Zine.
Curations and events by The Locavore team included:
• Longing for Home Food Booth: At this interactive art installation, guests got to listen to audio recipes featuring wild ingredients from across the country. Learn more about the project here.
• The Locavore Shuffle: Fostering meaningful conversations with fellow attendees on food, culture, memory, identity, and, of course, wild foods!
• The Wild Food Zine: A beginner’s guide to Maharashtra’s rich bounty of wild foods and the indigenous forest-dwelling communities that have preserved them. We have a few copies available, so grab yours in English, Marathi, or both here!
And A Lot More!
• Cultural performances by members of Tarpa and Warli tribes featuring tarpa players, tribal dancing, and Warli painting.
• OOO Farms Farmers Market, featuring fresh wild produce foraged from the forests by tribal communities as well as native ingredients grown by farmers from OOO Farms. This included rice, wheat, millets, forest honey, dals, mahua & nachani ladoos, as well as wild vegetables like kurdu, khurasni, mahua, kharshinga, kantola, fatangadi, gharbandi, and pendhra.
It's not over yet! We're also collaborating with some of your favourite eateries in Mumbai and beyond
Visit your favourite eateries and sample limited-edition wild food dishes from our partner restaurants.
This year, we’re expanding the festival by partnering with local chefs and restaurants. That means from 16 August to 31 August, these chefs and restaurants will be incorporating wild foods into their menus!
Participating restaurants include Folk, Maska Bakery, Mizu Izakaya, Nair on Fire, Subko, Toast Pasta Bar, and Woodside Inn in Mumbai, as well as Ground Up in Pune. Dishes you can try are:
• Garbandi Patta Chaat, Folk
• WIld Food Thali, Folk
• Khurasni Agedashi Tofu, Mizu Izakaya
• Fatangdi and Kharshingha Midori Roll, Mizu Izakaya
• Kharshinga and Carrot Stir Fry, Nair on Fire
• Mahua Cinnamon Roll, Maska Bakery
• Khurasni Herb Creamed Mushroom Medley Quiche, Subko
• Bafli Agnolotti, Toast Pasta Bar
• Khurasni Garlic Bread, Toast Pasta Bar
• Asian Crispy Fried Chicken Tenders, Spiced Mahua Glaze, Woodside Inn
• Indian Thorny Bamboo Shoot Cutlets, Egusi Sauce, Wild Amaranth (Kurdu) and Cucumber Salad, Woodside Inn
• Mahua Sour, Woodside Inn
• Terda, ft. Provolone and Malty Cheese sauce, Candied Mahua syrup, Chive flowers, and Toasted Cacao Nibs, Ground Up, Pune
Showcase Your Family Recipe
Do you have a family recipe featuring wild ingredients? We’d love to record, archive, and share it! Participating is simple—sign up, and we’ll arrange a virtual call where you and a loved one can share your recipe and the stories that make it special.
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