Table Talk: Foraging at Arabia Mountain + Climate Change
Aug. 26 — Happy Tuesday, and welcome to the table!
Back in July, I shared one of two stories from the Atlanta-based writers who participated in the summer issue of the Southern Foodways Alliance’s quarterly journal, “Gravy.” The theme of the issue tackles climate change and its impact on the region’s farmers, food producers, foragers, scientists, fishermen, and backyard gardeners.
👩🌾 Today, I’m sharing an excerpt from the exceptional essay by South Atlanta resident and author Hannah Palmer on urban foraging in places like Arabia Mountain and along Buford Highway. In this breathtaking piece of storytelling, Hannah documents her personal journey from a foraging skeptic who believed it to be an expensive, rarified hobby to a convert who learned to use foraging as a way to reconnect to places, communities, and her family history.
Hannah writes, “What does this practice [of foraging] offer everyone else? Particularly in a time of political whiplash, when even the terms ‘climate change’ and ‘environmental justice’ are being scrubbed from the national discourse, what can foraging teach us about abundance, about reconnecting to place, to our communities, to our own bodies? I wanted to know, so I spent the spring foraging for foragers.”
I encourage you to take the time to read this essay, then seek out Hannah’s two award-winning books: Flight Path: A Search for Roots Beneath the World’s Busiest Airport and The Pool is Closed: Segregation, Summertime, and the Search for a Place to Swim.
➕ Plus, Rough Draft Dining Reporter Sarra Sedghi provides you with a recipe for the eggplant and goat cheese galette from baker Teresa Finney of At Heart Panaderia. Look for “The Move” to return next week, giving you a glimpse into some of my favorite bites from recent dining excursions for Rough Draft.
Cheers!
🍸 Beth
🏢 Listed under $400,000 with Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty, this reimagined penthouse offers panoramic views from Piedmont Park to Stone Mountain. Features include a quartz waterfall kitchen, spa-inspired marble bathroom, a private balcony, and resort-style amenities including a pool, fitness, and a 24-hour concierge. SPONSOR MESSAGE
Foragers at the End of the World
by Hannah Palmer
This piece first appeared in the summer 2025 issue of Gravy quarterly from the Southern Foodways Alliance, guest edited by Rough Draft’s Beth McKibben.
⛰️ My first impression of food foraging was that it’s expensive. Two tickets for a Saturday morning mushroom hike at Arabia Mountain were more than a hundred bucks. I wasn’t paying for mushrooms, I reasoned. It was for time with Ranger Darling Ngoh, a data scientist and expert mushroom hunter. This guided ramble in a 2,550-acre nature preserve thirty minutes east of Atlanta promised to teach me “how to forage like a pro” while allowing me to escape into the woods for the day. Foraging may be free, but tuition isn’t cheap.
Maybe more valuable to me was getting my thirteen-year-old son off his laptop for the morning. Guy is accustomed to my forays into agritourism, having spent Saturdays in orchards and berry patches all over the South since the pandemic. It was a useful diversion from doomscrolling for me, too.
The morning was warm for early February, a muggy sixty degrees and climbing. A noisy chorus of frogs greeted us from the woods that ringed the gravel parking lot at Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Center. Was this the sound of early spring or climate change?
Ranger Ngoh met us at the front door of the nature center with a cardboard box of dry mushroom specimens and a brief lecture on the kingdom Fungi. Despite his goatee and abundant knowledge, he looked closer to my son’s age than mine. He told us that his name was pronounced like “go,” and that he was inspired by how mycelial networks—these complex, underground fungal root systems with the power to share nutrients, information, and even memory—mirrored his studies in data science.
“We’ve had some rain,” he said, “so we should be lucky today.”
🍄 What was I doing out here, attempting to forage for mushrooms? It clearly wasn’t going to provide lunch, at least not this early in the season. From the media coverage I had seen about food foraging, it struck me as either the rarefied hobby of intellectual foodies or the survival tactic of preppers, two groups of White people I tend to avoid at parties. What does this practice offer everyone else? Particularly in a time of political whiplash, when even the terms “climate change” and “environmental justice” are being scrubbed from the national discourse, what can foraging teach us about abundance, about reconnecting to place, to our communities, to our own bodies? I wanted to know, so I spent the spring foraging for foragers.
We ventured down an old quarry road into the woods. My son proved surprisingly fast at spotting the yellow, orange, and red of tiny mushrooms hiding in the gray-brown forest. Ngoh was like a kid in a candy shop, bursting with knowledge about each discovery.
He rattled off the Latin names for the mushrooms, their medicinal benefits, immune support, anti-inflammatory properties, dendritic connections. He explained the basics of foraging etiquette (take no more than 30 percent) and how to scatter the spores of the Apioperdon pyriforme or pear-shaped puffball, patting the sides of an old log as if it were a Labrador retriever.
🪻We found a half-dozen different species of fungi in the first hour, from the nontoxic, nonedible Phyllotopsis nidulans, or orange oyster, on a pine log, to the extremely toxic Galerina marginata, or deadly galerina. As we hiked through the granite-block ruins of some outbuilding of the Davidson Granite Company, I marveled how this old industrial site, quarried for almost eighty years, had been reclaimed by nature and the public. Donated in 1972, it was now a thriving public park, well-traveled by an ethnically diverse mix of hikers, cyclists, birders, and roaming naturalists.
We finally found some turkey tail, our first edible mushroom. We took turns gathering the indigo-striped frills and carefully placing them in baggies like the medicine they are. Wash, air dry, pulverize, Ngoh instructed, then mix into tea or coffee. “I don’t go more than two weeks without getting some form of turkey tail,” he said. “The tails have increased my ability to stay healthy.”
Growing up on the western coast of Africa, Ngoh foraged guavas, passionfruit, mangos, and bananas for fun, but rarely fungi.
“I realized early on, it was usually the adults that foraged for mushrooms, because there still was that stigma, even in Cameroon. These things were deadly. So they did it responsibly. I did go a couple times with my dad to go foraging for mushrooms, and that was cool, but the majority of the time was spent with other kids and my brothers, foraging for fruits and plants.”
If mushrooms are always in season, I asked Ngoh, does climate change affect the practice of foraging?
“Foragers are individuals who are aware of their native ecosystems,” he explained. They notice when things change. “Mushrooms serve as great bioindicators. They are the underlying infrastructure, you could say, or connectors that facilitate ecosystem health, rehabilitation, and general sustainability.”
“Foraging is just a quick feedback loop that allows me to test certain concepts, understandings, and knowledge.”
🌵 Toward the end of our hike, as we trooped across the pitted moonscape of the monadnock, I spotted a cluster of flat cactus petals growing in one of the mossy depressions. I stopped; the hike continued. Nopales. I carelessly plucked one of the fleshy pads and was holding it out for a photo before I noticed the fine needles stinging my palm.
The clouds broke and we stripped off our hoodies. It was nearly seventy-five degrees. My son asked to go to McDonalds. I was tired, hot, and happy, so I said okay. As we left Ranger Ngoh, I realized that for the entire morning, I had been thinking about mushrooms. Not politics; not what was for lunch. I was entirely tuned into studying the logs, branches, rocky surfaces of this wild place, hands in the soil, sniffing the branches, observing and curious. For a half day, it didn’t feel like the world was falling apart.
What I bought wasn’t tuition; it was therapy. At home, I washed my turkey tail bits and arranged them with the lone nopal on a blue plate on my windowsill: a little offering to keep that pleasant feeling going through the week.
➡️ Read the rest of Hannah’s essay online at Rough Draft.
Hannah S. Palmer is a writer and artist from the south side of Atlanta. Her new book, The Pool Is Closed: Segregation, Summertime, and the Search for a Place to Swim, was published in 2024.
Chalk it up: art, fun, and family in Chamblee!
SPONSORED BY THE CITY OF CHAMBLEE
🎨 Join the City of Chamblee for their 4th annual Chalk Walk & Artist Market – a fun, family-friendly event where sidewalks become masterpieces and creativity knows no bounds!
Whether you’re a seasoned artist or just love doodling, there’s space for everyone to show off their chalk art skills. You can compete in the artistic competition, support fine art vendors, enjoy cooling & water stations, free parking, free face painting and more!
➞ On Sat., Sept. 20, from 10 am until 4 pm at Chamblee City Hall. Get details here!
Eggplant and Goat Cheese Galette Recipe
From At Heart Panaderia
🍆This week, we’re sharing a recipe for the eggplant and goat cheese galette from At Heart Panaderia.
Founded in 2021, you may already be familiar with baker Teresa Finney’s custom cakes and pastries, particularly her conchas. Earlier this year, Finney began supplying baked goods to Communidad Taqueria, the new Old Fourth Ward restaurant from Poco Loco chef and owner Nick Melvin.
Finney’s galette, an easier alternative to pie, uses one of the South’s most prominent summer crops: eggplant. If you’re looking for a recipe to use up all the eggplant still sprouting in your garden, look no further.
🥧 One need not be a skilled baker or cook to make a galette. Consider it the ragged, rustic cousin to pie.
For this recipe, quickly sauteéd eggplants (use three to four small varieties or one large Italian eggplant) are combined with honey and goat cheese for a creamy, lightly sweetened savory pastry that can be served alone, or with a salad on the side or atop the galette. Finish the galette with a shower of Parmesan cheese and fresh thyme.
👉 Serves 8 people
🥣 Prep time: 30 minutes (up to 48 hours for the pastry)
♨️ Bake time: 35-40 minutes
Pastry Ingredients
- 300g (2 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
- 15g (1 Tbsp) granulated sugar
- 4g (1 tsp) kosher salt
- 225g (2 sticks) unsalted butter, very cold
- 113g (1/2 cup) ice cold water, more if needed
- 1 Tbsp sesame seeds, optional
Pastry Filling Ingredients
- 3 to 4 small variety eggplants, such as Japanese or Fairy Tale
- 13g (1 Tbsp) olive oil
- 113g (1 four-ounce package) goat cheese, softened
- 20g (1 Tbsp) honey
- 4g (1 tsp) kosher salt
- 3g (1 tsp) black pepper
- Parmesan cheese, for grating
- fresh thyme, for garnish
Directions
Make the pastry
- In a medium mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, and salt and toss with a small whisk or just your fingers to combine. Cut the butter into roughly 1/2-inch cubes; add to the bowl and toss to coat in the flour. Work the butter further into the flour by rubbing and smashing the pieces between your hands and fingers, until the butter is distributed throughout. Aim for a mix of smaller and larger butter pieces.
- Drizzle in the water and stir using a fork or your fingers. Gather a small bit of the dough now: if it holds together when pressed and doesn’t crumble, it’s ready to go. If not, drizzle in more cold water, or about 1/2 tablespoon at a time, and test accordingly.
- Divide the dough in half and wrap both halves in plastic. Place one in the freezer for later use and the other in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to chill. (The dough can be made up to 48 hours in advance; any longer and both halves should hang out in the freezer until you’re ready.)
Make the filling
- Set a wide skillet over medium-high heat and drizzle in the olive oil, swirling the pan to evenly distribute the oil. While the skillet preheats, run the eggplants under cold water, then pat dry with a clean kitchen towel. Remove the stem from each eggplant, then slice into about 1/2-inch-thick rounds. (No need to remove the skins or salt the eggplant before sautéing.)
- Once the oil in the skillet is shimmering, arrange the eggplant rounds in a single layer and lower the heat to medium. You may need to cook the eggplant in batches to not overcrowd the skillet.
- Let the eggplant cook, untouched, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes, then flip and do the same to the other side. Once both sides of the eggplant have been lightly sautéed, remove from the skillet and transfer to a dinner plate lined with paper towels. Season the eggplant with the salt and black pepper, and let cool while you make the goat cheese spread.
- In a small mixing bowl, add the softened goat cheese and honey. Mix to combine and set aside.
Roll out the pastry, fill galette, and bake
Once out of the oven, grate a shower of Parmesan cheese over the top and sprinkle some fresh thyme. Let the galette cool for about 20 minutes before slicing and serving. Any leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in your refrigerator.
Remove the pastry from the refrigerator and let it come to slight room temperature, about 15 to 20 minutes if the dough was only resting for half an hour. If it was resting for significantly longer, give the dough more time to become pliable and easy to roll.
Once dough is up to temperature, roll the dough into a roughly 12-inch round. It’s fine if the “round” is not perfectly round. Carefully transfer the dough to a half-sheet baking tray lined with parchment. When the pastry is on the tray, heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Spoon the goat cheese mixture onto the pastry now and spread it all around with a spoon, leaving about a 2-inch border. Arrange the sautéed eggplant atop the goat cheese; it’s fine if some pieces are overlapping, but try to place eggplant pieces in a mostly single layer.
Fold up the pastry border. Again, it doesn’t have to be perfect; rustic is the vibe. Brush the pastry generously with an egg wash and sprinkle the sesame seeds on the border, if using. Bake the galette until the pastry is golden brown, about 35 to 40 minutes.
🏢 Listed under $400,000 with Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty, this reimagined penthouse offers panoramic views from Piedmont Park to Stone Mountain. Features include a quartz waterfall kitchen, spa-inspired marble bathroom, a private balcony, and resort-style amenities including a pool, fitness, and a 24-hour concierge. SPONSOR MESSAGE
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