The Most Underrated Wild Food, According To TikToker Gabrielle Cerberville - Exclusive
If you need an idea for dinner tonight, look no further — or you at least should look in your own backyard. There are so many edible plants and ways to forage foods from the woods that many people don't even know about. TikToker Gabrielle Cerberville is on a mission to change that. Cerberville has acquired 981K followers and 16.2 million likes to date on the platform as she continues to educate her followers on foraging for meals. The influencer often focuses on different types of mushrooms that are safe for consumption and even turns them into recipes.
In an exclusive interview with Mashed, Cerberville revealed what it's like to be a wild food educator. She named the wild food that she just can't get behind (Rumex flour) and even gave an explanation behind her viral puffball pizza. As a TikTok Latina Creatives Grant recipient, Cerberville sure knows how to get creative in the kitchen with wild foods you usually won't find at the grocery store. Of course, Mashed had to know what she really thought the most underrated wild food is — especially since we want to try it for ourselves.
Cerberville wants you to try spicebush and pawpaws
As the saying goes, you never know until you try, and that goes double for trying unusual foods. Gabrielle Cerberville has tasted many unexpected foods, and she has her own favorites that aren't necessarily on the mainstream radar. One ingredient that she thinks isn't talked about enough is none other than spicebush.
The TikToker explained, "One that's common in the Midwest is spicebush. It's this beautiful shrub. It has these little green berries that turn red, and you can use those berries like allspice, or I think they taste like cardamom." She added that "you can use every part of that plant," down to the twigs and leaves. The content creator recommends making masala chai (a type of tea) with spicebush, and she uses the spice frequently in the kitchen.
In addition to spicebush, the other underrated food she loves is pawpaw fruit. According to Cerberville, "Pawpaws are the largest fruit that's native to North America." The TikTok personality describes pawpaws as having the look of a mango while tasting like a banana and mango mixed together. She also mentioned that the fruit goes bad quickly, so if you ever get your hands on one, make sure to eat it as soon as it's ripe!
Pawpaws are grown in 25 states in the United States, anywhere from northern Florida to Ontario, Canada (per Clemson). We don't know about you, but we will definitely be taking a trip to Florida to try these out sometime soon.
Head to TikTok's press release to learn more about the Latinx Creatives Grant recipients or check out Gabrielle Cerberville's TikTok page to keep up with her latest videos.