James Wood is a renowned experimental wild food forager running wild food cookery and foraging courses throughout the UK and is the author of ‘The Foragers’ Cookbook’. He’s kindly agreed to provide us with seasonal foraging tips. This month learn everything you need to know about wild garlic – and more!
Winter is coming to an end and I really can’t wait for spring to kick in to gear, there’s only so much watercress and seaweed one forager can eat so the excitement of the huge bounty that’s about to greet us gets my mouth watering. Nettles will jump from grass verges, ground elder will peak out from under the hedgerows, hawthorn will burst in to flower and the leading act will make an appearance for its yearly show. Of course I’m talking about wild garlic; this ingredient has become more and more popular over the past few years, to the point where it’s not uncommon to find it on most pub menus in London. It’s a bit like when a band you’ve liked for years makes it big and is over played on a major radio station, I thought I’d begin to dislike wild garlic for this fact; however it’s just too good for me not to like. From late February through to April I eat wild garlic, in some form, in nearly every meal I make, stirring it through a bolognaise, blitzing it with a hummus or wilting it as a side, it’s one of the most versatile wild ingredients I know of. I have a regular spot I visit for wild garlic and I’m sure all of you know of a woodland or two where wild garlic grows in abundance. If you’re still looking here’s some info and tips.
Botanical Name: Allium ursinum
Known Hazards: Reports of toxicity if eating sacks full, but such outcomes no doubt apply to many foods eaten to excess.
Could be confused with: The leaves could potentially be confused with both the poisonous leaves of Lilly of the Valley (Convallaria majalis) and Lords and Ladies (Arum maculatum), although neither of these smell of garlic. The biggest risk is to accidentally gather up Lords and Ladies leaves through being inattentive whilst collecting garlic leaves as these often grow together.
Range and Distribution: Wild garlic is found all over Europe, most of Asia and North America.
Habitat: It’s typically found in broad leaved woodland, enjoying a moist verge, preferring but not solely found on acidic soil. It tends to leaf and flower before the broad leaved trees come in to leaf and gives the whole woodland an amazing smell of garlic.
Physical Characteristics: Wild garlic is a bulbous, perennial plant, going into leaf from as early as January. Its leaves are spear shaped with a pointed tip, andcan range from 5-15cms in length and 3-6cm wide.Each plant has one single flower head that sits on top of a solitary stem, shooting up from the centre of the connecting leaves and looks like a white pompom sat on top of a pole. The white flower contains 6 petals ranging from 0.5-1cm in diameter.The root resembles that of a small but elongated clove of garlic.
Here’s how we use it through this short season.
Roots and bulb: best harvested when the plant is not in leaf from June-January. Use the bulb as regular garlic although be aware that it is somewhat fibrous. The roots can be dried and powdered to be used as a seasoning. The bulbs also pickle well.
Stem/leaves (early Spring): Salad item, cooked as a vegetable, to flavour oil, as a wrap, for pesto, leaf curd.
Flower bud (Feb/March): Tempura (using stem as handle), pickled.
Flower (March/April): Salads, as a garnish.
Immature seeds (May/June): Salads, garnish, pickled.
Mature seeds (May/June): As a condiment or spice, for sprouting.
Bulb (July/March): As regular garlic clove
