More Wild Garlic

The wild garlic has proved to be a very tasty addition to just about everything we have cooked over the last couple of weeks.  It was added to Aloo Gobi, made into pesto, used on garlic toast, added to salads and used in tzatziki.  The Allotment 2 Kitchen blog gives loads more fantastic wild garlic recipes which I am going to try.

The garlic toast was the biggest hit with all.  I literally just took a handful of the chopped frozen leaves, mashed it with some butter and little salt.  After toasting one side of some good baker’s bread, I spread the garlicky butter on the other side and gave that a quick toasting too.  Friends popped in last Thurs evening and we managed to eat a whole loaf!

The pesto however, was strong enough to blow your wig off.  I only used half the amount of wild garlic that was given in the recipe I posted previously, but think I would use half again next time.  Don’t get me wrong it still tasted good, and we will definitely be having it again.

Last weekend, we headed off for another evening picnic and more wild garlic picking.  Along with our sizzling sausages we had homemade mango chutney, spicy pea patties and tzatziki dip, all taken from this fab book …

… a birthday present from lovely friends, with an inscription that reads “to a dear friend who makes a considerably posher picnic than we do!”, which is a complete fib as Mrs Fruit … you are a fantastic cook (and party thrower) … and even Mr Fruit is starting to seriously impress with his culinary prowess!

For the tzatziki I just used natural yogurt, some of the chopped frozen wild garlic, chopped garden mint and a little salt and pepper.

Little man was more than happy with a tree to climb and a stick to play with!

We went to the same spot for our foraging as before and spent an hour quietly picking the smooth green leaves.  The whole area is awash with garlic – we came away with enough to last us for some time and yet you couldn’t even see where we had picked it from.  There are lots of wild strawberries growing there too ...

The garlic is growing in woods about half an hour’s drive from our home in a little area of paradise.  It is truly one of my favourite places on this earth – it has an aura of other worldly tranquility and seems to be largely unknown and unvisited – or perhaps it is just because we go late in the afternoon when others have gone home.  There is a wonderfully peaceful friary there to that is open to visit, although it had closed for the evening by the time we got there this time.  As the light started to fade and a big, heavy moon appeared we left for home with the heady scent of garlic still on our hands.

Our friends came home with us and we finished the evening with a wee dram.  A perfect day.

  

A little snippet of info from Mr & Mrs Slovakia  - When the Slovak (and other European) brown bears awaken from their winter hibernation, the first thing they eat is wild garlic to detoxify their body and give them strength.  Hence the reason wild garlic is sometimes given the name ‘Bear’s Garlic’.  At present about 600 – 800 bears live in Slovakia .

The European Brown Bear