In Season in Spring:  Wild Garlic

Jump to:-    Storing Wild Garlic  |  Preparing & cooking  Wild Garlic  |  Editor's Choice Top 3  Spring Wild Garlic Recipes

See also:    Spring Cooking and Recipes

Wild garlic is in season in the UK from March to May. Also called Ramsons, buckrams, wood garlic or bear's garlic, it is a wild relative of chives.

Wild garlic can be found in woodlands and hedgerows and is easily identified by its distinctive garlicky smell although care should be taken when gathering it in the wild as there are a couple of similar looking plants around at the same time – namely lily of the valley and autumn crocus. If you crush the leaves between your fingers and you don’t get a distinct garlicky smell, then it’s not wild garlic.

It is also possible to grow your own wild garlic if you don’t have access to a local wood.
 

Storing Fresh Wild Garlic

Store in the fridge for 2-3 days. Treat as you would fresh spinach. Can also be frozen and dried.

Preparing and Cooking Wild Garlic

Which part of Wild Garlic is edible?

Whilst the flowers and roots are edible, the most common part used are the leaves which can be used raw in salads, as a seasoning replacing ordinary garlic, as a vegetable like spinach, or as an ingredient for recipes such as pesto. Its initial chive-like taste gives way to a garlicky aftertaste, although it’s much less pungent, especially after it has been cooked.
 

Editor's Choice:  Top 3 Spring Season Wild Garlic Recipes