We’re coming to the end of wild garlic season soon, with the punchy, flavoursome flowers ready to pick until the end of June.
Wild garlic is a great addition to any recipe, especially green pesto or pasta. Stalks can be used like spring onions and flowers can be pickled or put into butter.
Best of all, when you go foraging for your own wild garlic, it’s completely free.
But you might be wondering where you can actually find these plants, especially if you’re in a concrete jungle like London.
Thankfully, Michelin award-winning chef and owner of Farang and PAYST, Sebby Holmes, has shared some of his favourite places to find wild garlic in the capital, along with a gorgeous veggie-friendly recipe to use it in.
‘Wild garlic is in season in the UK from mid to late February to the end of June,’ he tells Metro.co.uk.
‘Although picking it is allowed, unrooting it is actually a crime as Britain’s wild plants are all protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981), which makes it illegal to dig up or remove a plant.
‘Take some scissors and just snip what you want, leaving the roots to continue growth.’
He adds that wild garlic has some poisonous look-alikes, like Lords and Ladies and Jack in the Pulpit, so it’s vital you do your research and give your harvest a proper wash when you get home.
Where to find wild garlic in London
- Highgate Cemetery, North London
- Wimbledon Common, South London
- Abney Park Cemetery, East London
- Battersea Park, West London
Try this: Mushroom, Pak Choi and Wild Garlic Stir-Fry
Sebby says: ‘Charring the vegetables over the barbecue before cooking adds an unexpected depth of flavour to the broth.
‘I’ve personally served it as a side at numerous pop-ups and did not realise how good it was until I got my customer’s feedback; many people say it’s their favourite dish.
‘You can use any variety of vegetables to suit your personal tastes, so don’t limit yourselves to just the below list. I love it with cabbage or kale and even cucumber’
Ingredients
- Mushroom and garlic stir-fry sauce
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (groundnut oil is also good)
- 50g pak choi, washed and chopped into 3cm pieces
- 20g, green beans, topped and tailed and cut into thirds
- 6 asparagus spears, tough ends removed, sliced in half lengthways
- A handful of wild garlic, roughly chopped
- 100ml hot vegetable stock
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce (seaweed sauce if gluten free)
- ¼ teaspoon white peppercorns, toasted and ground to a powder
- 1 teaspoon caster sugar
For the paste:
- 2 green bird’s-eye chillies
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 teaspoon krachai wild ginger, peeled and roughly chopped (use regular ginger if you can’t source it)
- ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt
Method
Do you have a story to share?
Get in touch by emailing [email protected].
Source: Read Full Article