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When the woods start to smell of garlic, wild garlic (ramsons, in Slovenian čemaž) is here. Its juicy green leaves have a mild garlic flavour and are excellent in sauces, spreads, pesto and soups, or simply chopped on bread and butter. Our favourite way to use it is in a cream sauce that is ready in a few minutes.
When and where it grows
Wild garlic grows in spring in damp, shady deciduous woodland and along streams, often in dense carpets. Pick the leaves while they are young and tender, before the plant flowers. Once it flowers, with white star-shaped blossoms, the leaves are tougher and the flavour stronger.
Careful: wild garlic has poisonous look-alikes
Wild garlic leaves resemble the leaves of some highly poisonous plants that often grow in the same places, including lily of the valley, autumn crocus and the young leaves of lords-and-ladies (Arum maculatum). A mix-up can be fatal. So:
- Smell: a crushed wild garlic leaf smells distinctly of garlic. Caution – once your hands
already smell of garlic, this test is no longer reliable. Smell each leaf separately and wash your hands in between.
- Growth: in wild garlic, each leaf grows on its own stalk directly from the ground. In lily
of the valley there are usually two leaves together, wrapped around the stem; autumn crocus has no leaf stalk.
- Pick leaf by leaf, not in bunches, so that nothing else ends up among the wild garlic.
- If you are not sure, don't use the leaf. Don't forage if you don't know the plant well –
go foraging with someone who does, or buy wild garlic instead.
If you suspect poisoning, call 112 immediately (the emergency number in Slovenia and across the EU) or contact a doctor.
Pick in moderation
Take only a few leaves from each plant so that it can grow back next year, and don't pull it up with the root (bulb). Also follow the rules of protected areas.
How to store it
Wash and dry the leaves and use them within a few days – wrapped in a damp tea towel in the fridge, they stay fresh for longer. For later use, you can chop and freeze them, or make pesto and keep it in the fridge or freezer.
How to use it
Wild garlic tastes best raw or only briefly heated. Add it to sauces at the end so it keeps its colour and aroma. Use it anywhere you would use garlic and chives, just with a gentler flavour.
