It seems the very air I breath is permeated with wild garlic this week. Wild garlic or ramsons is similar to ramps, or wild leeks, both belonging to the allium family. Like ramps they grow anywhere moist and shady, like damp woods, stream banks etc. They do have a bulb which is edible, but it is small and finicky to harvest, with the bulb only being ready after about 3 seasons. The flowers are also edible, but much stronger than the leaves, making a few flowers a pretty and flavourful addition to robust summer salads. It is the leaves though, which are most sought after. Easy to harvest and prepare, and absolutely delicious.

I have a feeling that I am going slightly overboard with my wild garlic obsession, as my mom has just told me about an email she received from my daughter yesterday, where Dakota writes: ‘… I’m taking it easy on the garlic, but mom, ohhh!!!!, she can’t keep her hands off it!!!!!’ Even as I admit this I am writing about last night’s dinner and planning something for today, incorporating, you guessed it, wild garlic. I only hope the season is not over before I get through all the dishes I want to make.

Last night I made a real locavore’s salad of freshly dug new season potatoes, steamed Somerset asparagus and freshly foraged wild garlic. A little shaved parmesan and some hot lemon butter to finish it off and I officially pronounced it - Fabulous Dah-ling!

And for those of you who don’t know what wild garlic looks like, where to find it, or what bits to pick, here is a pictorial aid.

…slightly chive like, with white flower heads and bright green spearhead shaped leaves

…moist woods, and other damp areas such as stream banks

…tear off the leaves just above the stem (for regrowth) or snap off at the stem.

And if these clues don’t help, just follow the smell, it will guide you.

For the recipe for my Bashed new potato and wilted ramson salad with new season asparagus and lemon butter please click here or check out the Vanielje Kitchen Cook Book (vkcb) in the sidebar.

This is my entry for Andrea’s Grow Your Own event. I checked with her and wild garlic comes under the Hunter / gatherer clause apparently, so my entry is legit. It’s good to be back cooking with homegrown seasonal produce, so thank you summer and than you Andrea for a great event.

Tags: asparagus, GYO, Locavore, salads, seasonal cooking, wild garlic

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In winter our morning walk to school is not my favourite thing and I generally try and convince Dakota that a less eco-friendly door - to - door chauffeur approach is warranted. But in spring and summer we park in the neighboring village and walk across the fields. This morning it feels like we are wading knee deep in sunshine as the buttercups pay homage en-masse to the short but sweet British leg of Sol’s world tour.

The path then meanders, rickety as the old wooden fence it follows, through a small wood. Here the sunshine sneaks playful fingers through the leafy canopy while the trees dip their toes in a foaming sea of wild garlic.

The heady scent never fails to send a surging hunger message to both my stomach and my brain. Technicolor pictures dance wildly in front of my mind’s eye - of hot omelettes made with local free range eggs and somerset cheddar, grilled tomatoes and pasta with Parmesan butter, all liberally flavoured with the pungent wild garlic leaves currently doing their clamouring best to draw themselves to my attention. As if I could miss them.

We promise the children that we will stop and pick some on the way home, and for once I remember to bring my camera. In fact once I start snapping I can’t stop, everything is so beautiful. My neighbour remarks that in Italy everyone would be out foraging, but despite the fact that other children cannot resist the pungent lure, we are the only ones actually collecting young leaves for supper.

We leave behind any that are damaged or looking slightly yellow or past their best. There is so much that we can afford to pick and choose the sweetest looking young shoots. A handful each is enough. My neighbour is going to add hers to pizza toppings and I am going to make Farfalle pasta with Parmesan and Wild Garlic butter, and roasted tomatoes.

This is my entry to Ruth’s ongoing Presto Pasta night, which I always mean to enter but am usually too late with my Friday night dish. For the recipe click the link above or go to vkcb in the sidebar.

And don’t forget to come back tomorrow for more foraged wild garlic recipes. My mouth is already watering at the thought.

Tags: foraged food, Pasta, wild garlic

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OMG! The sun is shining! Not only is it shining today, it shone yesterday and the day before too, I have the sunburn to prove it. This morning it is streaming in through my kitchen window. ( Oops. My very dirty kitchen window. Need to clean that. I’ll put it on the list of things to do on a non-sunshiney day. )

The momentary twinge that is trying to tell me I’m overreacting is firmly banished. It is the African part of me that is used to 8 month summers. Here in England you cannot afford to be nonchalant about sunshine. While you’re busy playing it cool, that was it! Summer! Been and gone. Never mind, there’s always next year.

Well I don’t intend to be caught out again this year. The sun is shining, I’m smiling and my blog is working thanks to the amazing Andrea. I know I’ve been a little scarce and I blame it entirely on blogging technology, which was matrix-like sucking the very life out of me. Luckily Andrea was on hand to lend much needed technical support. Okay, technically not support as she actually just did it all for me, but the point is that it was I, me, moi that had the brilliant idea of enlisting her aid in the first place.

Feeling enthused, I’m starting my day off with one of my favourites, a banana lassi. In winter I just blend up yoghurt, banana, honey and cinnamon. In summer I add some fresh mint from the pot on my windowsill and instead of powdered cinnamon I use a cinnamon quill to infuse it with a touch of spice.

This is a super healthy start to the day and super simple too. I use organic live yoghurt, local honey which has a very delicate flavour, but rich undertones with an almost meady alcoholic quality, a fairtrade banana and homegrown mint. I throw them all in the blender and give it a whizz. The honey scent wafts out first and seems to underscore the smell of the banana and mint.

I pour it into a glass but can’t resist a quick taste test straight out of the blender. Of course, this leaves me with yoghurt all down my t-shirt. I quickly wipe it clean with a damp dishcloth. Did I say clean? I don’t want to know what the dishcloth has already been used for this morning. T-shirt and dishcloth go in the washing machine and I give my lassi a quick stir with a fragrant cinnamon quill. I leave it to infuse for a minute while I change my t-shirt and try to convince my daughter to put suncream on before school. Mission accomplished. Back to breakfast.

You can drink this delicious cocktail as a milkshake or add it to your granola or cereal. And if you don’t like your morning shakes too thick, thin it down with a little milk or some fresh squeezed OJ.

Mmmm. Despite the fact that my perfect bikini body is still a work in progress, with completion being months ( perhaps longer ) away, I feel fabulously healthy inside and out. Re-invigorated, I decide I might even get in a post today!

Happy summer everyone!

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