Food Foraging along the Maine Coast

You don’t have to lose your wallet first to scrounge for food in the wild. Finding free food is an enjoyable activity for at least some adults and practically all kids. I have always pitied the sports fisher with his fancy power boat and downriggers. How much does he pay for a pound of fish? I grew up using a cane pole and digging for worms. The Downeast version of that is mackerel fishing. The procedure is: 1. Wait for mid-July, 2. Get a cheap pole with a mackerel lure, 3. Find a dock, like the one at Lamoine Beach State Park and 4. Watch the others on the dock for guidance. If you have unusually bad luck you can wait until low tide and 5. Pick as many mussels as you want.

There are other seashore treats also. By all means, check with the Maine Shellfish Hotline 1-800-232-4733 before consuming shellfish. Red tide is nothing to mess with! Lamoine does not regulate the taking of any shellfish, so you can dig for clams too.  We have clam forks to borrow here at SeaCat’s Rest and I’m always ready to give guests a demonstration on our shore. Out a ways at low tide–if you have a kayak or don’t mind wading–you can get waved whelks, our sea snail comparable to Florida’s conch. Italians call these crocettes and have specific ways of cooking them. Tiny periwinkles, which attach to rocks underfoot in the tidal zone, can be boiled and dipped in garlic butter. Besides lobster, the soft shell clam is probably the most delicious wild seafood, but requires something to dig with and a fair bit of work to collect the 20 per person to make a meal. Any clam under 2 inches across must be returned to the muck!

Sea lettuce, Ulva sp.

While scrounging on the shore, don’t forget the edible seaweed. The long lasagna-like Laminaria longicruris or Atlantic Kombu makes a good soupbase and changes from brown to a bright green when boiled. Bright green delicate sea lettuce (Ulva sp.) can be found in limited amounts; please don’t pick it all! It is fine in salads. Salty sea spinach is not a seaweed but grows with it’s feet wet at the top of the tidal zone. Good in limited quantities.

Depending of the time of year there are wild fruits to be had; the season starts with serviceberries (or juneberries) on tall bushes in early July. They look like blueberries and taste like them too, only seedier. Look for raspberries in mid July. Tiny wild blueberries top the list starting in late July. Pick-your-own places are nearby too. We have a guest that comes every year just to pick blueberries and make jam. At the same time I make chokecherry jelly, we trade the final product. Chokecherries are available a little later, in mid August.  They are available in HUGE quantities. Nobody wants them! As long as you cook them with sugar they’re fine.  Blackberries are also ready in late August. Lots of wild apple trees grow here and start dropping in early September. By the end of September I’m making trips to my favorite bog for cranberries.

I’ve tried to include the foods most likely to yield enough for a meal, but there are many quarries which are more frustrating until you find that secret spot or special time of year. Maple syrup, morel mushrooms and highbush cranberries come to mind.  If you find yourself short of a full meal why not meet a local lobsterperson or stop by a farmer’s market for some local produce to make up the difference? Here in Lamoine we even have the Seal Cove Goat Farm where you can buy excellent cheeses. Bring them all to your full kitchen at SeaCat’s Rest and cook ‘em up!

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