The main dish
Wild Garlic
Even though Spring has come very late this year after our long cold winter, if you go out into the countryside now you will see carpets of wild garlic growing in shady spots everywhere. Native to the UK and an indicator of ancient woodland, both the leaves and flowers of wild garlic are eaten and they can be enjoyed raw or cooked. Wild garlic is milder than the cultivated variety, but still has a delicious garlicky flavour and is just as good for you, containing plenty of anti-bacterial allicins as well as compounds which boost the immune system and are good for the circulation.
You can usually smell the plants before you see them, often whilst driving along lanes with your windows down, but when you see them gather a few leaves and chop them into salads or onto grilled, oiled sourdough to add bite, or blitz a couple of handfuls with olive oil, pinenuts and Parmesan for a bright, zingy pesto. Wild garlic soup is more traditional in France than Britain and the leaves should be treated rather like watercress and cooked for only a few minutes before the soup is blended. The flowers are also edible and are usually added as a garnish to salads with the stalks being rather like garlic chives and particularly good as a flavouring for scrambled eggs with smoked trout.
Previously:
- Blackcurrants: Why Purple is the new Green
- Cauliflower
- Winter Kale
- Brussels Sprouts
- Cob Nuts
- Life Is A Bowl of Cherries
- Asparagus - Queen of Vegetables
- Watercress - The Original Superfood
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