The other day to my amazement, I actually saw the first lot of swallows swooping and snorkeling over the river Wye at Monmouth Bridge; the same place that I saw them first a year ago. This specific means that winter is gone, so that as much as I love the winter, I am pleased. When I say pleased, I really mean overjoyed, delirious with pleasure, and intolerant for it all to go BANG as the buds burst and the world turns green and white and yellow and pink. I can’t hold out for those sunny days where everyone immediately will go out in summer clothes, even though it is actually still freezing, and smiles at one another and insists on drinking java in the street although bravely ignoring the goose pimples up their hip and legs and the gale-force wind flow.
Right now the blackthorn is going; some Hawthorne leaves and several sycamore are just bursting through, and the buds in my ‘orchard’ are swelling in a promising fashion. Inside the forest the wild garlic has pushed through, and also this means one thing; FOOD (and smelly wellies- you will really know what I mean if you have ever placed through a patch). At the weekend my mother and I gathered a basket full to make a hot salad with the leaves mixed with explode, avocado, quinoa, celery and tomatoes; totally delicious, and so healthy that we had to have wine and cake to celebrate. An additional family favourite is cheese sandwiches with wild garlic leaves, or an omelet made with the leaves. But because you have heard all that before, I actually have tried different things; wild garlic and walnut impasto from a much-loved publication ‘Wild garlic, Gooseberries…. And me’ by Denis Cotter.
You need 100g outrageous garlic leaves, 50g shelled walnuts, 200ml olive essential oil, 40g finely grated Parmesan or another hard mozzarella cheese, and salt and self defense. It can be stored in a jar in the fridge with a thin layer of extra virgin olive oil to cover for upward to a week. Ok, so all you have to do is put the garlic leaves and walnuts into a food processor, blend to a coarse puree, add the oil and blend for a few more mere seconds. Pop in a pan, stir in the parmesan cheese, and season with sodium and pepper. You could stir it into teigwaren, drizzle over strained yoghurt and eat with abucheo, cook it with species of fish such as mackerel, or wear it as a perfume (only if you would like to repel vampires or other unwanted attention). The advisable thing is that you get a wander through spring time woods in to the bargain.
You can find wild garlic, also known as Ramsons, all over the place at the end of March/April; it grows in woodland and hedges to find bluebells, and odours unmistakably of garlic; which suggests you should really be able to identify it with ease with a field-guide. It generally expands in profusion, so you should be able to harvest it responsibly, taking care to pick the particular leaves and not bother the bulbs or flower buds. A few flowers if they are away can be used to decorate a salad too. In addition to being seriously scrumptious it is rich in vitamins A new, B, C and Flat iron, and is claimed to manage blood pressure, help blood flow, reduced cholesterol and own no- fungal and anti-microbial properties, as well as making you physically perfect and truly irresistible. Actually that last bit I made up, but the associated with it is fairly amazing anyway. It is the first easy wild food of the year, and will also be able to find plenty of ways to use it. Get out for a stroll, take in the bird song and go get some for your supper. Let me know how you get on!
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