A Late Spring Tradition

In my neck of the woods, at this time of year, wild garlic appears. People come to pick it, often trespassing on private property to get it. If you have every had it, you can understand why. It is a wild plant that grows in the bush, along side trilliums. Around here, people pick and sell them on the roadsides.

I read an article in Gourmet Magazine that referred to them as ramps. According to the article's author, Chef Yoshi Yamada, "ramps (Allium trioccum) are a member of the lily family, which includes garlic, leeks, and onions. Built a little like scallions, ramps have elegant green leaves growing from a richly purple stalk that fades to a white bulb. Below the bulb, roots hang down like dendrites. Ramps are often called wild leeks or wild garlic, and if you taste them you will know why: They occupy a middle ground of flavor, with the sweetness of leeks and the bite of garlic. And this flavor is delicious."

And they are delicious. I can eat them like olives and just pop them in my mouth. The other night I made perogies, and fried up the wild garlic and the perogies together. Last night I made meatballs in a barbecue sauce made with them. They were fabulous and fast.

Wild Garlic Barbecue Sauce

2 cups of wild garlic

3/4 cup ketchup

1/2 cup plum sauce

1/2 cup apple sauce

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup soy sauce, sodium reduced

1/4 cup low sodium or homemade beef stock

2 cloves finely minced garlic

Heat a large saute pan, in olive oil, saute wild garlic until it begins to soften, about 5-7 minutes. Add sauce ingredients and still until sugar dissolves. Add in your favorite meatballs, cook until meatballs are done.

You can use pork chops or chicken, this sauce is great with that. You must serve this with french fries or rice, so you can sop up the extra sauce- because it's so good you'll want to!