Healthy Spring Wild Herb: Wild Garlic
This plant blankets entire forests in white color and garlic scent. And its taste hardly falls short of the savory bulb: wild garlic. Here's how you can use it and its effects.
What is Wild Garlic?
Some also call this plant Wild Garlic, which is easily recognizable by its long, brightly green leaves. It can be found in damp forests as early as March, especially where the soil is chalky. Sometimes, it forms proper carpets. The leaves can be harvested before the plant begins to bloom. Be careful not to crush the gathered leaves during transport.
What's Inside
Wild Garlic (Allium ursinum) is very healthy! It contains minerals such as iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, and selenium, as well as vitamin C, mustard oils, mucilage, essential oils, and allicin - this compound is responsible for the plant's typical scent.
Cooking with Wild Garlic
Process wild garlic as quickly as possible. It quickly loses its aroma in the refrigerator; it shouldn't be stored there for more than a day or two. It's best to wrap it in damp kitchen paper and place it in the vegetable compartment.
Before consumption, remove the tough stems and wash the leaves gently but thoroughly. Avoid cooking wild garlic, as it will lose its aroma. If you want to use it as a sauce ingredient, add it at the end.
A Few Recipe Tips
Wild Garlic Quark: You'll need one to two handfuls of wild garlic leaves, 250 grams of quark, some milk, yogurt, or plant-based milk, and a pinch of salt. Here's how: Cut the washed leaves into fine strips. Mix the quark with milk, yogurt, or plant-based milk and add the wild garlic strips. Now, season with salt - done! The quark tastes delicious with boiled potatoes, but it also makes a very good spread on bread.
Wild Garlic Pesto: You'll need two handfuls of wild garlic, 50 grams of Parmesan or Pecorino cheese, one tablespoon of roasted pine nuts, and a pinch of salt. Here's how: Chop the washed wild garlic. Grate the cheese. Put the wild garlic, pine nuts, and cheese in a mortar and process everything into a fine paste. Now add salt. If the mixture is too thick, you can add some rapeseed or olive oil. Mix well and fill into a screw-top jar. The pesto will keep in the refrigerator for a few days. Tip: If you cover the jars filled with pesto with vegetable oil, it will keep longer.
Wild Garlic Paste: You can use it to season soups and sauces. It has a long shelf life. You'll need 150 grams of wild garlic leaves, three tablespoons of olive oil, and half a teaspoon of salt. Here's how: Finely chop the washed leaves and mix them with salt and oil until the salt has dissolved. Now you can fill the mixture into jars. Or puree it into a smooth paste. Press the paste well and cover it with a thin layer of oil before sealing the jars tightly.
Feta Cream with Wild Garlic: You'll need 150 grams of feta cheese, 100 grams of wild garlic, two tablespoons of cream cheese, one tablespoon of olive oil, and some chili flakes. Here's how: Crumble the feta cheese and place it on a flat plate. Mix in the cream cheese and oil until a creamy mixture forms. Now add the washed, finely chopped wild garlic leaves. Mix well and season to taste with chili flakes. The cream goes wonderfully with baguette and toast.
Wild Garlic's Healing Powers
The leaves are not only very delicious but also healthy. They contain many antioxidants and have anti-inflammatory, circulation-promoting, detoxifying, blood-purifying, antibacterial, and digestion-stimulating effects. You can use them, among other things, against skin problems, loss of appetite, rheumatism, spring fatigue, and high blood pressure.
Harvesting Wild Garlic
When picking wild garlic, make sure to leave one leaf on each plant. This ensures that it will reappear next year. It's best to cut the leaves carefully or pinch them off with your fingernails. Also important: Only collect as much as the stock can handle. Fresh wild garlic tastes best anyway!
Beware of Mistaken Identity
Wild garlic grows in similar locations to the poisonous Lily of the Valley, whose leaves look very similar. To avoid confusion, you can crush one of the leaves. Wild garlic leaves emit the typical garlic scent, while Lily of the Valley leaves are odorless. But: If you have already picked several wild garlic plants, your hands may have already absorbed the scent. This can distort the smell test. So make sure your hands don't smell like wild garlic before testing. By the way, you can also buy wild garlic at weekly markets.
You can also grow wild garlic in your garden. You can get young plants at good garden centers. A shady spot and moist, humus-rich soil are ideal. If the location is right, wild garlic spreads rapidly.
For more information on healthy eating and ways to combat spring fatigue, consult our Holmes Place experts.