Learning from the crisis: Wild edible herbs – parapač, mišanca, gruda – possibility and challenge

When you collect by yourself, you know what you eat!
Paval Šain, Žrnovo


Introduction – Plants and people

Coexistence of plants and people are our necessity, a determinant that the whole evolution of the humankind is marked with. Using of wild plants has been known in the human nutrition since the ancient times. Significant dynamic differences within systems of human communities are noticed in the alterations of the relations between humans and plants, and through these alterations the historical and civilisational evolvement can be traced. First great civilizations unfolded with the possibilities of land cultivation, and seed wars were not an exception but a necessity. Just by glancing at today’s hydroponic garden systems in contemporary automated greenhouses, or at vast fields under monocultures and omnipresent mechanization, where even the life of pollinating insects is under control, in a matter of seconds we can easily ascertain the endeavour of the present civilizations to technologically govern not just the processes of growing and ripening, but the absolute conditioning of the environment. However, the same principles were applied by the ancient civilizations, with available technologies and considerable effort, mostly slave work. Collecting wild edible herbs directly from its natural habitat in the immediacy of the contact human– plant and its rudimentary shape have been preserved since the beginnings of the humankind. Islands Korčula nad Mljet, as well as the Pelješac Peninsula, at the heart of the Mediterranean, inhabited since the Prehistoric Period, are the chosen loci of the scientific and artistic research; topos as the agent of the importance of biodiversity, but also the source of arguments for the critique of the food industry and seed cultivation control. The population has been traditionally using island’s natural resources, so the skills, knowledge and value systems have strongly included the longue durée processes which have been passed down from generation to generation. The awareness of the importance of the sustainable nature reserves, such as Dalmatian oak and black pine tree, these distinctive characteristics of Korčula Island, was embedded in the oldest of the statutes of Dalmatian medieval communities, the Statute of the Town and Island of Korčula from 1214. Collecting wild edible herbs from its natural habitat is the logical first choice of food, well known since the ancient times, and in the large part of Dalmatia it was present until the middle of 20th century in its practical and widely spread usage. The falling tendency of tradition diet started in the second part of the 20th century, and it became stronger in the 21st. Though wild, these sorts of herbs, collectively denominated as mišanca, gruda, parapač, divlje zelje, gorko zelje, parapaška or pazija grow only in cultivated spaces, at the fringes of dry walled vineyards, gardens, houses, and stone roads, which is another among specific characteristics through which the importance of the understanding of the relationship between humans and plants has been confirmed in the total of the civilisational development. The skill of knowing and usage of wild plants instruct us about much more than the pure gastronomic utility – it incites us to understand and respect the sustainable development, especially of the delicate areas such as islands and the coast. Also, it provokes us to consider necessary ecological purity and biological diversity, as the prerequisites for healthy life in the totality of an ecosystem, including humans. In a wider sense, having this skill we can observe from the point of landscape protection, as well as ecological but also cultural aspect; with the special overview of the fact that the in 2013 the Mediterranean diet, and in 2018. the making dry stone wall construction was included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Buying or harvesting?

With time, the skill of identification and collecting uncultivated wild edible herbs has been slowly forgotten. It seems that with the vanishing of the need, even conditions for the nutrition of the traditional type that leans on autarkic agriculture disappeared. The additional reason is the wide availability of consumerist goods as well as the change of economic atmosphere which have been systematically causing oblivion. We all recall the skill as existent or something that was existent in lives of our ancestors, grandmothers, and mothers, but we are not certain any more of our own abilities and experiences. Nonetheless, the contemporary tendency of taking control over the natural resources and food production by neoliberal corporations encourages us to re-evaluate our own intangible heritage and neglected skills as the possible system of resistance against omnipresent consumerism and alienation from nature, but also as the possibility of the economic growth of rural, ecologically pure areas.
I was largely inspired and motivated by the exhibition “World of Food in Croatia“, which took place in the Ethnographic Museum in Zagreb in organization of the Ethnographic Museum and the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Research in 2006 and 2007. At the round-table “Visualization of Food in Museums“ that was organized during the exhibition, for the first time I presented possible characteristics of this traditional skill and concluding that wild edible herbs deserve our attention for several reasons. In the past, wild edible plants were accessible to all as relatively secure source of nourishment, even to the poorest, especially in war and crisis conditions. Today, wild edible plants are delicate and rarely used source in daily nutrition. Partly because of the way of collecting, but also because of fashionable demands for healthier diet, wild edible herbs are becoming a posh and expensive food item. In this twisted perception there is a hidden reason why to pay more attention to wild edible herbs and why it is important to preserve and pass down the knowledge of foraging herbs, while at the same time developing the awareness about preserving ecological purity and biological diversity, including personal, communal, and social responsibility. Consumerism and easygoingness, lack of time and contemporary lifestyle are solid ground for systematic oblivion of traditional diary, but, on the other hand, taking care of one’s own health impels us to re-evaluate them. While keeping that in mind it is easier to understand the need to preserve the skills of foraging. Even if it seems that these fragile herbs and our contemporary knowledge of them, respectively, have a difficult task to accomplish, it is possible to observe food as a medium through which numerous phenomena of artistic and cultural work and civic activism is viewed. Intangible heritage is a widely comprehended dimension of human creativity, and the skills which humans mastered in the past and which enabled survival and sustainability are certainly a significant category.

Artistic research – to research, identify, collect, and present
The Challenge of Bio-art

The purpose of artistic research Wild Edible Herbs – mišanca, gruda, parapač is to study culture of identifying, collecting, processing and applicability of wild edible plants on the island of Korčula, Pelješac Peninsula and neighbouring rural areas and islands via interdisciplinary procedures and interviewing, as well as to determine the availability of these herbs on the markets of larger Croatian towns. Korčula island is recognized as the area of extraordinary biodiversity where people have been traditionally used many wild edible herbs. The authors of the artistic research are Sani Sardelić and Darko Fritz, within the association grey) (area – space of contemporary and media art, and the research is a part of a wider platform entitled Politics of Green Spaces. The purpose is to incite the dynamic creation of bio-art projects, via documentation and communication. According to the research that we conducted, the skill of identifying and usage of wild edible herbs is relatively well preserved. This phenomenon has been described in literature, first and foremost in the numerous repeated and enriched editions of Encyclopaedia of Wild Edible Herbs by the author Ljubiša Grlić. However, edible plants and herbs in nature are mostly recognized and identified by elderly people, rarely younger. Plants that informants list the most frequently are: chicory (žutinica), common sowthistle ( kostrič or čevčeg), wild leek (divlji luk, poriluk, luk prdej), prickly lettuce (divlja salata), Queen Anne’s lace (divlja mrkva), goat’s beard (kozja brada), fennel (morač), common brighteyes (slaška), dandelion (maslačak), stinging nettle (kopriva), mak (corn poppy), blackbery sprouts (izdanci kupine), and many more: tušanj, pleštiguzica, kostučel, lembrc, kostopeč, even oslobada. It is important to mention that these plants do not belong to endangered plants, but are mostly treated as weed, so they are uprooted and peeled off, and unfortunately, very often washed down by poison and herbicides, which directly negatively affects biodiversity.
Wild edible herbs can be collected only if two conditions are met: biological diversity and ecological purity. While picking and using them it is important not to gather or peel off all the plants in one biotope. There is not much of poisonous plants, they are very rare, but it is important to learn to identify them and not to touch. Many plants are edible, although in the traditional mixture (mišanca) there are mostly fifteen to twenty sorts of plants in the good ratio. Namely, some plants, like fennel, e.g., are aromatic and dominant, so it is necessary to use them in small amounts. Even the variety of names, of both mixtures and singular edible plants in relatively small location point to wider usage and distribution. This artistic research is set as the open type research. The second phase of the project will develop research on wild seasoning and medicinal herbs, depending on availability of funding. Besides scrutinized identification and documenting plants in the field, the project also involves the interactive audio and video archive of conversations collected in field work with informants, who are carriers of knowledge and skills in researched areas. The results of the artistic research and documentation are archived in the Ethnographic Collection of the Korčula Town Museum. Endowment Kultura nova acknowledged this project by grey) (area and provided the financial support. The informants from all island settlements, as well as Korčula town, participated in this first phase of research. The informants from whom we got the most of information were mainly elderly citizens of both sexes, with an emphasised micro-local belonging, well acquainted with specific theme of research: wild edible herbs. Although being of diverse professions and trades, all of them used to practice or are still practising traditional agriculture which, among the most of informants, is the constituent part of the daily rhythm of activities, including a personal informal ritual. Their diverse life value systems were pinpointed in the conversation, as e.g., the opinion that the best food for health is the one whose growth you can supervise by yourself, and that the food in supermarket chains is less nutritional value, and perhaps even harmful through the usage of chemical substances, long term transport and storage. The informants think that people used to eat better food in the past, though more modest, and very often talk about their childhood memories. Even today the aim at consuming food in concordance with the dietary habits they adopted in the early stages of their lives, which includes collecting wild edible herbs according to their availability in different seasons. They are aware of fundamental changes in the society that is becoming more and more consumption-oriented, and they have a pronounced critical attitude towards it. Also, they are deeply worried because of the feeling that new economic activities and neglecting island agricultural lands destroys the sustainability of the island. They are aware of disinterest of younger populations for the traditional way of life which includes the skills such as collecting wild edible herbs, but they also understand the causes and circumstances of that fact. Respect of land and its fertility is something that is highly appreciated, and although they are mostly unison against the usage of chemicals, they are not so consistent. It is spotted that the way of growing food has been reflected in the way that space has been shaped, the space that has been long since recognized as a highly valuable cultural and historical landscape. With building dry boundary walls in the karst landscape, that landscape has been transformed towards the goal of expanding agricultural fields and spatial cultivation since the ancient times. Many scientific disciplines, in a wide spectrum from the anthropological, sociological, archeological, historical, historically-artistic, botanical or landscaping visions, up to the newest exploitation in tourist-economic branding of products, strongly re-evaluate dry boundary walls, small houses, roads and paths, baskets and other architectonic landscaping elements, which are probably the strongest identification mark and iconic image of the traditional Dalmatia. Creative shapes of material and intangible, the natural and humanized, cultivated, and wild growing, interlace while transforming time into space.
Research on the markets in Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik, as well as in the town of Korčula, pointed to the good offer of wild edible herbs there, but also indicated the regionally labelled demand – “It is what the Dalmatians eat!“. Painstaking collecting and research of this form of intangible cultural heritage, and collecting skills from the informants, respectively, is significant in manifold ways. Although the research is primarily set up as an artistic process, we think that in the future the results could be applied, aside for the development of artistic programs and projects, as transfers of knowledge, skills, and value systems also in cultural as well as economic activities, where especially ecological, critical, and sustainable tourism prove to be the most plausible option. Therefore, new possibilities of coexistence of humans and plants could be opened, aiming at the recovery of the island sustainability that is now in imbalance. What is also very important is creating the potential towards the shifting an immense pressure of the main tourist season towards the more balanced early spring and late autumn programs and workshops in nature, including experience tourism, and even some aspects of health tourism.

Reinterpretation of the research results: from the carriers of knowledge and skills to new users / Workshops and lectures

Since the beginning of the research it has been perceived that the accommodation of the herbs, no matter a real or virtual herbaria within walls of cultural or art institutions such as museums, cannot suffice for the goal – the transferring of knowledge and skills, or communication of an object. Food is certainly not a standard museum exhibit: it is impossible to be preserved in the conditions of a museum and it is difficult to have it in its original form on permanent display. Therefore, considering wild edible herbs, it is necessary to “go out of the museum”, to the nature, towards the immediate contact, whereby the workshops proved to be the most appropriate method. Because of that the special attention was addressed to organizing workshops in nature and looking for the interested partners in the carrying out of the project. The first workshop “Wild Edible Herbs” took place in 2014 in the National park of the island of Mljet, in the village Goveđari, on invitation by the owners of the Old School Gallery (Galerija Stara skula) Tamara and Zoran Luković, proposed by Adriana Tomašić, an editor at Radio Dubrovnik. There was an instant interest in this form of activity, as much from the attendants of the workshop as from the media – newspapers and TV. The management of the National Park Mljet recognized the value of this kind of presentation of natural wealth and biological diversity, ecologically sustainable systems and preservation of traditional knowledge and skills, and financially supported it, also in the years that followed the first one. The workshop took place also on Orjen, in Monte Negro in October 2016, on the invitation by the Centre for Bird Watching, Ecological Association of Boka kotorska and the Municipality of Tivat, in cooperation with the partners: the Municipality of Baška Voda, Croatian Institute for Sustainable Development and the association BIOM, in the frame of the IPA cross-border project “Bird-watching and Eco Tourism in South Adriatic”, financed by the EU in the frame of cross-border cooperation between Croatia and Monte Negro. In the collaboration with the author, the organizer designed the three-day workshop under the title: “Introduction into collection of wild edible plants – integration of wild edible plants in tourist gastronomy offer in South Adriatic”, with clearly pronounced expectation of getting to know the wild edible plants in Orjen mountain area, the modes of collecting and using them for enhancing of tourism gastronomy offer in the region of Boka kotorska. As it was quoted in the call, it had been expected from the attendants to acquire the basic skills of identifying and collecting plants in nature, and to apply them in the kitchen. The goal, as said by the organizer, is the advancement of the regional touristic offer in the region of Boka kotorska and the Dubrovnik-Neretva County, based on bird watching. The sustainable ecological approach has been emphasised. With the lecture on wild edible herbs the possibilities and potentials were also presented at the Second Congress of Ecological and Sustainable Tourism organized by LUX Promotion in December 2016 in Zagreb. In continuance, there were lectures and workshops on the island of Korčula: in 2017 on the invitation of Tourist Board of the City of Korčula, and in 2018 and 2019 on the invitation of the association “Korčulanske pjatance”, as well as on the neighbouring island of Hvar in 2019 in the frame of scientific symposium during the gastronomical manifestation Taste the Mediterranean. Local Action Group LAG 5, whose activities cover a wide spectrum in South Damatia, included the workshop on collecting wild edible herbs in the project Web’n’Work which was financed by the European Social Fund. The host of the project was the association DEŠA-Dubrovnik, while LAG 5 carried the partner’s activities of the project in 2019 and 2020 on the islands Korčula and Lastovo, as well as on the Pelješac Peninsula. To mark the International Museum Day in 2019, the Croatian Museum Association assigned the theme for the 24. educational-museum action titled Nourishment/(Pre)hrana, following the theme of the International Council of Museum (ICOM) “Museums as the Centres of Culture: the Future of Tradition”. That was the reason to conduct workshops and give lectures in the Maritime Museum in Orebić, Centre for Culture in Vela Luka, Dubrovnik Museums – Ethnographic Museum Rupe, and in Korčula, in the Catering practicum of the Secondary School “Petar Šegedin” and the restaurant Aterina, as an event in the frame of the Spring Food & Wine Festival – Korčulanske pjatance. The emphasis was on the Mediterranean diet and its potentials in contemporary conditions, while reviewing wild edible herbs as its precious component. According to the quoted experience, it can be concluded that the workshops and lectures about wild edible herbs are adaptable and interesting to different social and age groups and initiatives, which once more affirms that the basic content, namely – food and our relation to it – is interwoven with our identity and consciousness.

In the immediate contact with workshops attendants, it was perceived that it was a great pleasure for them to experience this sort of activity within protected national park or in the ecologically pure conditions of Orjen mountain, in the heart of the island of Korčula or Pelješac Peninsula, and a great challenge was to find food for oneself, ecologically pure and extraordinary healthy as well as to master or recall long forgotten skills. According to the word of one of workshop attendants, who is a professional health-food storekeeper and great food connoisseur, she found the motivation in the need to learn how to forage edible wild plants, which she used to buy on the local food market. Also, she says, the smell of the fresh picked plant is immeasurable experience in comparison to the plant that we buy. She considers important to preserve knowledge and skills of surviving in nature. Judging according the experiences from the workshops, the attendants were highly sensitised towards ecologically pure nature and it can be said that they were very satisfied with the workshops, where they could, according to their personal motivation and interest, learn to safely identify up to seven sorts of plants, sometimes even more, and test their new knowledge independently. Furthermore, after gathering herbs and plants in the fields and ecologically maintained vineyards and olive groves, workshops attendants assorted and cleaned herbs and plants, to prepare them for the final phase – cooking and consumption. Then, all these herbs and plants were repeatedly checked, and one used, besides his or her visual sense, olfactive and tactile senses, so that workshop attendants could properly acquire the skill of recognizing a plant. Potential of the workshops designed in this way is great, and it can be modulated according to given conditions, depending on space, season, expected duration of a workshop, needs and sensitivity of attendants, as well as on the number of participants. These workshops represent a well thought product, which, through a careful guidance, could positively influence re-evaluation of the significance of ecologically preserved rural areas in their whole, and therefore also their sustainability. During all the activities, the condition of the present crisis, both economic and social, was mentioned more than once.

Different crises dominated the space which was tackled by this research many times through history. Wild edible herbs and autarkic agriculture literally enabled the survival of many people, which is a fact about many informants testified, sometimes from their own experience from e.g. WWII aftermath, sometimes recalling the memories of their ancestors. It is certain that in the times of a crisis we want to instinctively ensure our existential needs, and the food is their main component.

Conclusion: Nature is salubrious

Results of the field research confirmed the initial premises that the skill of identifying and gathering wild edible herbs in the chosen area is well known to the inhabitants, but there are less and less of those who actively apply that skill. Strengths, weaknesses and opportunities to traditional diet and their economic potentials are recognized. Although the research was set up as the artistic one, the results could, besides development of the artistic programs, be applied as transfers of knowledge, skills, and value systems in both cultural and economic activities. In the endeavour to acknowledge and redefine the transforming role of museums and art associations into associations of studies in interpretation of heritage as active participants in economic potentials, we consider that these agents could strongly incite the understanding of importance of ecologically pure space and biodiversity preservation, aiming at integral healing of one’s own life habitat. Present circumstances caused by Covid-19 pandemics only fostered the belief that we should not easily give up knowledge and skills that we inherited by the past generations and with which we have found the answers to the previous crises.

Sani Sardelić