Chopped bear's garlic

What dishes can you use wild garlic in?

Dried wild garlic is a perfect alternative when it's no longer in season! An ideal way to have wild garlic in your kitchen all year round.

How to use wild garlic?

Here are some recipe ideas to use wild garlic in your cooking:

• wild garlic goat cheese spread: add 1 teaspoon of wild garlic to fresh cheese;

• wild garlic olive oil: add 1 tablespoon of wild garlic to 1 liter of olive oil and let it marinate for 1 week;

• wild garlic butter: add 1 tablespoon of wild garlic to your softened butter and mold it;

• tagliatelle with wild garlic cream: at the last minute, add 1 tablespoon of wild garlic to your pasta and mix with parmesan cheese;

• wild garlic salt: add 2 teaspoons of wild garlic to 100g of fleur de sel and mix.

The essential herbaceous and garlicky notes of wild garlic

Wild garlic and its garlicky flavors are more herbaceous than traditional garlic, and you may notice a hint of chives or even seaweed. In the mouth, its taste is subtle. It is also easier to digest than common garlic.

What is wild garlic?

Wild garlic, also called ramsons or wood garlic, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the Amaryllidaceae family, like shallots. It is a bulbous plant, whose botanical name is Allium ursinum. The wild garlic plant can grow from 15 to 30 cm in height and grows in colonies. Before the plant blooms, only two leaves resembling those of lily-of-the-valley are visible. White flowers in umbels develop at the ends of the stems between May and June. Wild garlic is said to have got its name from the fact that bears, at the end of their hibernation, search for this plant to cleanse themselves.

This plant grows mainly in the mountains, in the Grand-Est region as well as in all mountainous areas. It is also possible to find it in your own garden!

However, be careful not to confuse wild garlic with the autumn crocus, which looks similar but is highly toxic! Many also mistake wild garlic for lily-of-the-valley or the spotted arum that often grows in the middle of wild garlic, making it easy to mistake for wild garlic.

Stories and legends surrounding wild garlic

According to legends, garlic fights monsters and purifies the body. For example, in Savoie, it was a tradition to throw a few cloves of garlic into rivers to purify the water. Wild garlic was considered a plant associated with white magic, and in the past, pregnant women protected their future child by keeping wild garlic in their pockets. Other legends from the time of the Germans said that eating wild garlic would give soldiers the strength of an animal. If many legends illustrate garlic, what we are sure of is that wild garlic is a real asset in your kitchen!