It was wild. The meal was almost entirely wild, and if I had used the wild garlic or ramps I had in the crisper rather than the cultivated spring garlic, it would have been even more so.

The simple recipe for the salmon came from Sam Sifton, in the New York Times.

Incidentally, while preparing the greens in this meal, I was able to again confirm that ‘stinging nettles‘ hold no terror for me, and because of that I left out the adjective which usually accompanies the word ‘nettles’ (I don’t know if there’s any relationship, but I’m also blessed with an immunity to poison ivy).

• one pound of wild Coho salmon from Whole Foods (offered at a very special price on Monday), rinsed, dried, sprinkled on both sides with sea salt and freshly-ground pepper, brushed/slathered with a mixture of Dijon mustard and turbinado sugar, placed skin side down in a 400º oven for about 12 minutes, removed, divided into 2 pieces, and sprinkled with chopped winter savory from Stokes Farm
• three fourths of a cup of truly wild rice (acquired years ago from a friend, and still very much alive and tasty!), rinsed, soaked in one and a half cups of water for an hour, drained, aded to 2 cups of boiling chicken broth made with Better Than Bullion chicken base, allowed to return to a boil, the heat then lowered and the rice simmered until tender but firm, about 50 minutes in this case, the excess liquid drained off, the rice fluffed with at wooden fork, served on two plates, topped with small dollops of ‘Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter‘
• four ounces of young, tender nettles (I believe they were foraged) from Tamarack Hollow Farm, blanched in salted water for about 2 minutes, drained and set aside while two sliced fresh garlic stems (the bulbs only) were softened in a pan with two tablespoons of butter, the nettles added and stirred until warmed up, their cooking liquid gradually added, then finished with salt, pepper, a sprinkling of organic lemon from Whole Foods (had I the time at this point, I would have included lemon zest), and a drizzle of olive oil
• the wine was a French (Beaujolais) red, Chapelle des Bois Chiroubles 2013
• the music was Aulis Sallinen’s Symphony No 7, and his ‘Chorali’ Op. 22, Ari Rasilainen conducting the Rheinland-Pfalz State Philharmonic Orchestra in both pieces