From The Forest

This book was written in hopes of unveiling one of America's best kept secrets - delicacies of the desert. The high and low desert areas of the southwestern United States provide a cornucopia of solid foods ranging from succulent fruits to rich nuts; spicy seasonings to exotic meats, juicy berries to tangy vegetables.

For the hunter, backpacker or camper, these foods offer a welcomed addition to the camp menu. Once the outdoors-man becomes familiar with desert foods and their seasonal availability he can plan his provisions accordingly. The backpacker can lighten his load in anticipation of supplementing his diet with foods gathered along the trail. Each following chapter contains a section for the outdoors-man, providing simple methods of preparing wild desert plants and game out-of-doors.

But, desert foods shouldn't be limited to use in the field! Their unique flavors and textures lend themselves to gourmet cooking as well. Wild foods from the desert can open a whole new dimension in food preparation and entertaining. Juniper berries, Pinion nuts, acorn meal, pickled nopalitos and prickly pear jelly are a few of the wild desert foods which hold prominent positions on the shelves of specialty and gourmet shops. These same high priced delicacies are abundant in their natural habitat. The following chapters provide hundreds of rarely seen recipes offering the homemaker and gourmet cook a galaxy of fresh ideas for using desert foods.