MONITOR:Delicious wild garlic – coming to a damp, shady wood near you soon, writes HUGO ARNOLD
THE ITALIANS may have their truffles, but in the next few weeks, our damp, shady woods start to produce a favourite wild food – garlic. A walk through, or even a drive by, Allium ursinum, and you’ll detect a light and delicate aroma. Garlic as we know it, but without the harshness. This is nature’s announcement of good things to come. The worst of the winter is almost over and growth has started in earnest.
Free food is not often found in such abundance but wild garlic is prolific. So much so that if you are tempted to lift and transfer some to your own garden, you would be advised to think of putting it in a container rather than a bed – it multiplies rapidly as long as it has shade and moisture.
Personally, I prefer the walk in the woods. The ease of picking and its longevity – well washed and dried, it keeps well in a plastic bag in the fridge for a few days – make it a forager’s dream. Grasp it by the stem. A quick tug and it will come away from the ground easily.
Wild garlic has several stages, all of which are influenced by weather and site. At the start, the leaves are tender and suitable for salads. Later they become tougher, more robust and are not pleasant to chew, but can be wilted or used in sauces. Later still, the pearly white flowers appear, which are a visual and tasty addition to salads, where they bring a peppery, garlic tang to proceedings. Once the flowers have arrived, things are on the wane.
Top of the list of recipes using this bounty is wild garlic and nettle soup. Perhaps that’s because both ingredients are free – but also because it is so utterly seasonal. Young nettles and garlic cooked with leeks, butter and cream give a simple taste of early spring.
If you slice the garlic leaves thinly – chefs call it chiffonade – they look pretty, scattered on top. Early in the season, similarly thinly sliced wild garlic scattered over chargrilled scallops is a delicate delight.
There are also butters and pestos to consider. The leaves, finely chopped and mashed into butter or blitzed with olive oil into a crude pesto, are wonderful over grilled meat or fish. Bread sauce may be good at Christmas, but combined with finely chopped wild garlic leaves and some of the roasting juices from a chicken, it makes for a punchy seasonal sauce.
We are so used to roasting, frying and grilling fish that the idea of braising is often overlooked. Yet this method of cooking allows all the individual flavours to come together, and with the addition of wild garlic, the effect is gentle and subtle and has a lovely, light creaminess. It needs to be firm fish, but black sole, squid, scallops, turbot and even mackerel can all rise to the occasion. With some wild garlic adding a wilted greenness and subtle flavouring you have a meal in moments. Don’t cook the garlic leaves for too long, though – they can taste bitter if cooked for more than a couple of minutes.
Wild garlic bulbs are useful ingredients, too – less pungent than a fully fledged garlic clove. They can be finely chopped into butter or oil. Either route works well and the garlic can be simply mashed into baked potatoes or tossed with pasta. If the latter, then chop the leaves and add to the finished dish. They will wilt in the heat, giving off a strong aroma of garlic, and yet the taste will be mild and gentle. Just like truffles, really. harnold@irishtimes.com
