Kevin Kossowan is a filmmaker, forager, and hunter best known for From the Wild, a James Beard nominated series he shoots, edits, and scores entirely on his own in the Canadian wilderness. In this episode, he talks about how he thinks about wild food as a full pantry, why terroir applies just as much to a forest as a vineyard, and what happens when you slow down and pay attention to everything around you, not just the thing you came for.
If you hunt, forage, cook, or just find yourself curious about what's growing outside, you'll like this one.

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LINKS
Kevin Kossowan
https://www.fromthewild.ca

From the Wild on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@fromthewild

The Perennial Plate (Daniel Klein, mentioned)
https://www.theperennialplate.com

Heartland Bowhunter (mentioned)
https://heartlandbowhunter.com

Strathcona Spirits / Clear Stock (mentioned)
https://strathconaspirits.ca
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Silvercore is built on a lifetime spent outdoors, on ranges and in the company of people who live with skill, purpose and integrity.
Here you will find real conversations, fieldcraft, practical training, stories from the wild and the lessons that help us grow mentally and physically.
Whether it is a podcast with someone who has been tested, a tip you can use today or a look behind the scenes, the goal is to help you live stronger, safer and more capable in the outdoors and in life.

Silvercore Club members receive exclusive podcast episodes, online courses, insurance for their adventures and discounts on premium gear:
https://www.silvercore.ca/club

Online Training: https://www.silvercore.ca
Training and Services: https://www.silvercore.ca/course/category
Merchandise: https://www.silvercore.ca/collections/all-merchandise
Blog: https://www.silvercore.ca/blog

Host Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bader.tiffany
Silvercore Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/silvercoreoutdoors

Contact:
info@silvercore.ca
604 940 7785
www.silvercore.ca

All content on this channel is for informational purposes only.
Always follow the law, follow safe handling practices and train with qualified professionals.
Silvercore assumes no liability for the use or misuse of any information shown here.
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TIMESTAMPS
00:00 What makes From the Wild different from other hunting shows
02:00 Kevin's influences: Heartland Bowhunter, Jamie at Home, The Perennial Plate
05:30 Leaving finance for filmmaking and rebuilding a food system from scratch
07:30 How From the Wild started
09:00 How the show has evolved toward plants, spirits, and sea kayaking
10:30 Terroir in wild spaces and why time and place change everything
14:00 Why elk hunts turn into mushroom hunts
15:30 Noticing everything around you in the field
16:30 Snow goose, digestivos, and what happens when you look beyond the target
18:00 Wild tinctures, neutral grain spirit, and what alcohol percentage does to extraction
19:30 Learning from people who know more than you
21:00 Lamb's quarter, fireweed tea, and the plants that replaced grocery store staples
24:00 Galium triflorum: the wild plant that replaced 98% of a restaurant's vanilla bean order
28:00 The pull between documenting food and just eating it
29:00 Filming the pace of nature and post-production as a time machine
31:30 What a good episode looks like: fishing, crabbing, foraging, cooking, being there
33:30 Why the show stays unscripted
35:00 Making something for yourself and sharing it
36:30 When wild ingredients are challenging and what chefs do with that
38:00 Tall blue lettuce, wormwood, and finding the right application for bitter ingredients
41:00 Growing up on moose meat and learning almost everything else from scratch
42:30 How Kevin approaches learning something new
44:00 Why most of the forest turns out to be usable
45:30 One plant, a whole menu: dandelion, spruce, and what that opens up
47:00 Sweden, Finland, and how related species can taste completely different
50:00 Working alone and what that produces creatively
51:30 Self-shooting and why a second camera changes the dynamic
53:30 From the Wild as documentation of real friendships
57:00 Season 13 plans: BC coast, goose barnacles, lingcod, halibut by sea kayak
01:00:00 How to preserve fish when you're paddling back to port
01:03:00 What else is out there beyond salmon and halibut
01:07:00 Seaweeds on the BC coast
01:09:00 What time in the field does to how capable a person feels
01:11:00 Gin, tonics, herbal medicine, and where plant-based drinking came from
01:13:00 Robert Rogers: 65 books on plant and fungal medicine

Jesse Griffiths spends most of his time between the field and in the kitchen.

We talk about how those two things connect, and how that connection shapes the way he cooks, teaches, and thinks about food.

There’s a lot in here about the parts people usually rush through. Cleaning an animal. Butchering. Taking your time with it. Jesse has a way of bringing you back to those moments and making them feel worth paying attention to.

We get into the instinct to tell the story after a hunt. Where that comes from. Why it sticks with people. And Jesse shares how his work has shifted over the years. Less time in the restaurant. More time writing, teaching, and building things that let him reach more people without losing what matters to him.

We also talk about hunting with his daughter, and how that’s changed the way he looks at time in the field.

This one moves between Texas and the kitchen, between the field and the table. But it always comes back to the same thing.

Pay attention. Don’t skip the important parts.

Alan Bergo has built a career around noticing what others overlook.

Alan is a chef, author, and forager known for his deep knowledge of wild foods and his ability to bring them into the kitchen in thoughtful, creative ways. Through his work, he has helped thousands of people see forests, fields, and shorelines differently.

In this conversation we talk about the craft of foraging, the intelligence of wild plants, and what it means to cook with ingredients that most people have never considered food.

Alan shares how he first began exploring wild ingredients, the lessons he learned working in professional kitchens, and how those experiences eventually led him to focus almost entirely on wild food.

We talk about:

• how to begin learning wild plants
• the responsibility that comes with foraging
• bringing wild ingredients into the kitchen
• why curiosity is the most important skill a cook can develop

This episode is about attention.
About learning to see what is already around us.
And about the quiet thrill of turning something wild into a meal.

_____
Silvercore is built on a lifetime spent outdoors, on ranges and in the company of people who live with skill, purpose and integrity.
Here you will find real conversations, fieldcraft, practical training, stories from the wild and the lessons that help us grow mentally and physically.
Whether it is a podcast with someone who has been tested, a tip you can use today or a look behind the scenes, the goal is to help you live stronger, safer and more capable in the outdoors and in life.

Guest Links

Forager Chef
https://foragerchef.com

Alan Bergo Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/foragerchef

Alan Bergo Books
https://foragerchef.com/books

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Silvercore Club members receive exclusive podcast episodes, online courses, insurance for their adventures and discounts on premium gear:
https://bit.ly/2RiREb4

Online Training: https://bit.ly/3nJKx7U
Training and Services: https://bit.ly/3vw6kSU
Merchandise: https://bit.ly/3ecyvk9
Blog: https://bit.ly/3nEHs8W

Host Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bader.tiffany
Silvercore Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/silvercoreoutdoors

Contact:
info@silvercore.ca
604 940 7785
www.silvercore.ca

All content on this channel is for informational purposes only.
Always follow the law, follow safe handling practices and train with qualified professionals.
Silvercore assumes no liability for the use or misuse of any information shown here.
_____

00:00 Introduction to Alan Bergo
02:40 Discovering wild food
07:30 Learning to see edible plants
13:20 Early kitchen career
20:10 Why chefs are drawn to wild ingredients
28:45 Responsibility in foraging
35:10 Cooking with wild plants
44:20 Mushrooms and the excitement of discovery
52:00 Teaching others about wild food
59:40 Advice for people curious about foraging