Today, the country’s edible landscape, including everything from seaweeds and coastal grasses to mountain herbs and forest roots, is attracting local-eating enthusiasts (or locavores), environmentalists, survivalists and award-winning chefs.
All are reaping the rewards of fresh, freely available foods, picked at peak flavor and grown as nature intended.
You’ll find foraged fodder at some of the world’s top restaurants, including René Redzepi’s Noma in Copenhagen in Denmark and Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse in California, USA.
Locally, chefs PJ Vadas of The Roundhouse, Luke Dale-Roberts of Constantia Uitsig and Eric Bulpitt of Jardine’s are among those in on the trend. Martha Stewart is also a keen hunter-gatherer, while wild leeks and other edible plants feature regularly in the pages of Bon Appétit.
Blog posts on everything from pickling dandelion buds to leaching acorns (to remove bitter tannins) pepper cyberspace, and you can even go on an organised food foraging tour of New York’s Central Park.
Perhaps the heightened interest is just a natural offshoot of the local-foods movement. Or maybe it’s a gut reaction to grim economics. Either way, it’s a good time to whip up a batch of stinging-nettle soup.
Even though foraging is a trade that has been considered to be unpopular in modern times, it's become a hot trend among urbanites now, in many rural areas, there have been some cultures that have stuck by this form of wild-food hunting and wild food still provides much-needed daily nutrients.
In a quest for fresh, quality, and organic produce, more and more people are developing an interest in foraging.
The Xhosa people is one group that has carried this tradition over the years. They love morogo (a type of wild spinach) and it’s a regular ingredient in the popular Xhosa dish called umifino which consists of wild spinach-like greens and onion.
To get a taste of a foraged African dish, try this delicious recipe: Home-made guinea fowl and morogo pie.
The Khoisan of the Kalahari still enjoy many indigenous, wild plants as part of their daily diet, such as Spekboom (Elephant’s food). Try the Spekboom, chickpea and tomato salad.
TIPS ON FORAGING
Before you venture out educate yourself so you know exactly which foods to eat and which to avoid.
Invest in good guidebooks with pictures, such as Food from the Veld (out of print, so google for second hand copy), Edible Wild Plants and Herbs and Field Guide to Mushrooms in SA.
A must-have book if you’re interested in Khoisan food is Koekemakranka by Renata Coetzee.
Here are some warning signs that a wild plant is probably not safe to eat, from the book, The Illustrated Guide to Edible Wild Plants:
• Milky or discoloured sap.
• Beans, bulbs, or seeds inside pods.
• Bitter or soapy taste.
• Spines, fine hairs, or thorns.
• Dill, carrot, parsley-like foliage.
• "Almond" scent in woody parts and leaves.
• Grain heads with pink, purplish, or black spurs.
• Three-leaved growth pattern.
Where to forage:
Some great spots to forage would be by the seaside, pastures and woodland. In fact, if you look hard, you'll see that foraging is possible anywhere - but avoid foraging in dark places, agricultural fields, nature reserves and other protected or private areas.
What to forage for:
Some easy-to-identify wild foods on land would be mushrooms and wild garlic (you can use the bulbs and leaves).
Mushrooms can be found throughout the year, 
however they taste better when foraged in autumn. Try the Porcini mushrooms with gorgonzola for a simple yet tasty mushroom dish.
Because there is such a variety of mushrooms, you have to be careful not to choose the poisonous ones.
As a general rule, never pick little brown mushrooms or umbrella-capped ones with white gills.
Don't touch mushrooms that have a bulbous cap or sac around the base, nor those with a ring around the stem.
Quick idea: For a delish wild snack, fry mushrooms and wild garlic with some parsley in butter. Or stuff artichokes with wild mushrooms and mascarpone.
A dish that teams up well with parsley is Kalahari truffles with parsley and lemon butter. (Kalahari truffles are the fruiting body of an underground fungus)
Other wild plants include Nasturtiums – grown across the country. The leaves and flowers can be used in salads - try our Spring flower salad - and you can pickle the seed pods (found after flowering) in brine or vinegar.
Pine nuts from pine cones are easily found, and pine nuts are both healthy and delicious in a variety of dishes. Try Gorgonzola, watercress and pine nut risotto.
Stinging nettle The leaves can be used in cooking just like spinach, and lose their sting when exposed to heat (pick with gloves on!). The highly nutritious leaves, are great for tea - fresh or dried
Dandelion greens are great in a quiche, or stir-fry and the root can be dried and ground for coffee.
Indigenous yellow or wood sorrel is delicious in salads and in waterblommetjiebredie. Try Baked mushroom and cheese omelette with sorrel salad. In fact, waterblommetjies (Cape pond flower) is another wild plant you can forage for in the lakes and rivers of the Western Cape.
Remember, if something looks suspicious, don’t touch it. Make sure the plants have not been treated with pesticides, and try to not pick up anything that is close to roads. It may be polluted by motor fumes and other waste.
More recipes to try:
For an exotic mixture of flavours, try the sour-fig jam with french-toasted flapjacks and Saint-Andrie Brie
For a lovely desert you can try the wild young berry Millefeuille.
For more info:
• Visit Environment.co.za for more tips.
• Some nurseries stock wild plants – making it easy to forage in your front garden!
• Also worth a visit: A New Zealand wild food blog.
• SA Scouting for edible foods and insects
From the taste blogs
Rose&Thorn on waterblommetjies
Abigail on foraging and eating cheeks