Wild plants are the predecessors of cultivated ones. How did we arrive at cultivated vegetables, and why, if there is so much food available around us?
The selection of seeds carried out by humans over centuries has resulted in vegetables that have characteristics different from wild ones, aimed at facilitating their consumption and sale. Cultivated plants have larger fruits and leaves, which can be harvested and stored more easily; they are more productive or produce only at certain times of the year; they have more attractive fruits, and they can be managed within intensive and extensive farming systems.
During this selection, focused on the economic aspects of the food system, we have, however, forgotten to preserve many of the properties of wild foods, both in terms of flavor and active ingredients and nutrients.
For example, we often realize how intense the flavor of wild vegetables can be. Have you ever tried a Daucus carota? The wild carrot, or more specifically the taproot of this plant, is white (this vegetable was turned orange to honor the Dutch House of Orange) and is much smaller and thinner, with an irregular and less aesthetically pleasing shape. Its flavor is so strong that it almost seems harsh, especially since we're used to the taste of supermarket carrots, which taste like sugary water with a faint carrot aroma and nothing more.
Similarly, wild strawberries are smaller, less attractive, softer, and easily crushed, but what a rewarding experience it is to taste one freshly picked, with its intoxicating flavor and aroma!
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