Community Workshop Feature: Robin Kort, Swallow Tail Culinary Adventures
What is your name and what do you do?
My name is Robin Kort and I am the Chef/Sommelier/Forager/Owner of Swallow Tail Culinary Adventures.
Where are you from originally?
I am Vancouverite through and through. I grew up in this city’s bustling restaurant scene.
What workshops have you offered to teach through the Farm workshop series and what are some workshops you’d love to do in the future?
I mostly offer all of the wild foraging tours. Pretty much anything to do with finding, identifying, and eating wild plants and mushrooms. I run mushroom foraging usually in the fall and then wild native edible plant walks during the spring and summer.
How long have you been teaching workshops?
I’ve been doing these tours for about 8 years now.
How did you originally become interested in your area(s) of expertise?
Photo Courtesy of Good Life Vancouver
I grew up in Vancouver learning about trees/forest with my dad. When I was young, I started as a chef and so naturally I became curious about what wild native plants and fungi were edible and tasty enough to warrant hunting for them. Really, what kicked off my passion for this area was mushrooms early on. I naturally just kept doing what I did as a kid and figured these tours were a great thing to share with other passionate cooks looking to kick their dishes up a notch with fungal delights.
What is one hobby or activity that you enjoy doing in your free time?
I really pottery and spending free time on Galiano island watching the whales and the sea.
What do you enjoy most about being part of the Farm workshop series?
I just love supporting the Farm however I can. We are losing a lot of our knowledge about food, foraging and farming in general, so I’m really trying to preserve this knowledge and the Farm is a great place to do that. The programs that the Farm runs are so interesting and they really connect people with nature again – it’s important work.