Cooking with Fire

Cooking is the language of love for many people throughout the world and throughout history. When we sit down to meals with friends and family, we strengthen the bonds of our relationships while nourishing our bodies together, giving us the vital energy we need for all aspects of our lives. While we are still discovering new ways to cook our food, cooking with fire is likely the oldest way humans have practiced cooking.

Cooking with fire can eliminate harmful bacteria, change flavor, and prolong the “shelf life” of our food. Wild Earth invites you to join acorn aficionado Mark Ressl and passionate cook, hunter, forager, a dabbler of many things food related Dustin Lamberta and for a full day experience of cooking over, under, around fire.

We will practice a variety of cooking techniques to prepare vegan, vegetarian, and meat dishes culminating in a great feast at the end of the program! Dietary choices and allergies will be handled with care. Please indicate dietary needs and restrictions when registering.

Dishes will be made with locally hunted, gathered and grown foods. Participants will go home with new recipes, new skills, and a deeper sense of connection to the food we eat, where it comes from, and how to prepare it with love and care.

Some of the campfire cooking techniques will likely include:

• Clay bake fish
• Pit cook chicken and veggies
• Open fire rotisserie
• Slow cooked venison
• Locally foraged ingredients (blackberry, blueberry, sweet fern, acorn)
• Pan frying over fire
• Cooking directly on coals
• Cooking with acorn starch and flour
• Nixtamalization
• Jerky making

Wild Earth strives to make our programs accessible for all. If you have a disability and are interested in attending this program, please reach out to discuss with our team to see what may be possible.

FAQ about Cooking with Fire

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Q: How is this Cooking with Fire workshop different from the Cooking with Fire workshop last year?

A: We are going to switch some skills up and keep some things the same, but expanding upon them. So even if you participated last year, there will be many new things to learn!

Q: Do I need to have previous cooking with fire experience? 

A: No, you do not need to have previous cooking with fire experience to participate in this workshop. If you are new to this cooking skill, we will demonstrate all you will need to know. All skill levels are welcome.

Q: Can teens attend this program? 

A: This program is open to teens 15 – 17 by request. Guardians or parents of teens please reach out to hello@wildearth.org or call our office at (845) 256-9830.

About the Instructors

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Dustin Lamberta– Dustin grew up playing with his sister and other neighborhood kids in the “woods” (an acre of marshy land deemed too wet for development) near his suburban Long Island childhood home. After focusing his studies on political science, and philosophy at SUNY New Paltz, he began to take interest in local food and ecology while working at local farms and wineries. In Fall, 2011 he was introduced to Wild Earth by his friend Thomas Meli, and began attending the Dawn Song Village Program. He has since staffed several Wild Earth programs as well as some time with White Pine Programs in Maine and Coyote Club Wildlife Education Programs in New Hampshire. He is a passionate deer hunter, loves birds, harvesting edible plants, open fire cooking, gardening, and Earthenware pottery. He lives in Cottekill, NY with his wife Terrah and dogs Frankie and Peanut.

Mark Ressl – Mark Ressl (he/him/his) is a multidisciplinary maker, teacher, social activist, and life long learner who lives in the Hudson Valley, NY. When Mark isn’t leading a wilderness education program, you might find him collecting acorns to make flour, constructing a giant prop to be used in a rally, or redesigning ADA accessible designs to be more functional and aesthetic. Mark is an expert carpentry teacher, tiny house builder, designer, and architectural draftsperson, as well as an amateur inventor and avid gardener. Mark loves his partner Sage and helps her manage living with multiple sclerosis as her primary care worker. In addition to these experiences, Mark has taught Maker Space carpentry programs and wilderness education programs for a variety of schools, camps and non-profits. You can view Mark’s teaching work and other work at his website www.acornmarky.wixsite.com

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