Go Wild in the kitchen with Wild Garlic!

At this time of year, if you enjoy walking in the woodland areas of the UK and Northern Europe, taking in the beauty of Bluebells, you may catch the odd whiff of garlic and ask yourself, "What's that smell?". Chances are, its Wild Garlic (allium ursinum), also knowns as Ransoms, which is in profuse flower at the moment.

I am a huge fan of Mother Nature's storecupboard, and she never fails to delight my appetite with this delicious and prolific allium. A member of the onion family, this invasive woodland bulb grows in moist, shady areas, usually with Bluebells and Nettles for company. You can spot it from its broad, soft green leaves which look similar to tulip or Lily of the Valley leaves, and at around the end of April, produces a bunch of white star shaped flowes on a single stem about 30cm tall ifrom the centre of the plant. The flowers smell strongly of garlic.

It has many uses and benefits to your health, and has a flavour not unlike spring onion (scallions) and chive. All parts of the plant are edible, though the leaves and the flowers are more often used than the very small bulbs it produces. The leaves are usually harvested before the flowers appear, as that is the time when their flavour is most concentrated, though the leaves can still be used once the flowers appear. The flowers are incredibly flavoursome and can be used in salads, sandwiches, marinades, stews and soups, or can just be picked and eaten straight from the plant!

Wild garlic has all the benefits to your health that common garlic has, like cleansing the blood and helping to lower cholesterol, and is also a rich source of Vitamin C and sulphurous oils essential oils, which are believed to have various medicinal uses and benefits. The leaves are also effective against worms, and helps control both diarroeah and constipation beacuse they stimulate the digestive system. Wild garlic is also useful in the control of arteriosclerosis, high blood pressure, water retention and lung congestion. Badly healing wounds are also hepled to heal quickly when bruised leaves of Wild garlic are rubbed into them. The juice of Wild Garlic helps clarify the blood and is useful in clearing problem skin. It needs to be used fresh as it does not keep well, like spinach, nettle and other soft leaved plants, though it will sit quite happily in the fridge in a plastic bag for a couple of days.

So, now you have discovered how wonderful this little plant is, I hear you ask, "what can I do with it?". Well, one of the simplest ways of taking Wild Garlic, is to make it part of a nutritious soup, with its friend, the Common Nettle.

When you have discovered a clump of Wild Garlic you need to pull off a good couple of handfuls of leaves and stems, and about a dozen or so flower heads. Please be respectful to Mother Nature by only taking exactly WHAT YOU NEED AND NO MORE. Then you need to collect about 500g of fresh young nettle tops (or you can use 500g of spinach if you prefer). Now that you have foraged a nice little gift from nature, its time to get to the kitchen. For the soup, you will also need:

1 red onion

1 white onion

3 fist size potatoes

3 baby leeks

a good spash of white wine (about 50ml)

salt and freshly ground black pepper

a couple of tablespoons of good olive oil

a couple of teaspoon of vegetable boullion powder

and about 2 litres of water

So, chop your onion, leek, potato and washed wild garlic leaves and stems (reserving all of the flowers for later) and saute for a few minutes in the oil until just beginning to soften. Add the white wine and cook till it evaporates Then add a good grind of pepper, a good pinch of salt and the boullion powder, and add enough water to cover the vegetables. Put a lid on the pan and simmer for 20 minutes or so until everything is nice and soft. Remove the pan from the heat and add about 500g of nettle tops (or spinach) and stir everything together to wilt down the leaves. You may need to add some more boiling water. Adding the leaves at the end, retains the vibrant green colour (otherwise it just goes green-brown). Then, using one of those hand held blending sticks, puree the soup to a fine texture and check the seasoning and the consistency. You are aiming for the consistency of thin cream. Before serving, pull off all the star shaped fowers from the cluster, and drop into the soup. Give it a good stir and serve with a chunk of crusty bread, and enjoy!