Food for Free - Wild Garlic

Without being too wacky, living off the land and eating fresh food has always been one of our aspirations. Getting that food for free is the icing on the cake.  A very useful book that has helped us in identifying what can be eaten and what should be avoided is the Collins Gem "Food for Free". It is like an Eye-Spy book for adults, with a month by month guide of what is in season in the fields and woods.  Being in France the month by month guide is a little bit out, as most plants are early here, with only a few of the very early Spring plants being a little bit later.  I think that this is because we have a much harsher Winter than England followed by a much hotter Spring and Summer.

One free food that has gone down very well with us and our friends is Wild Garlic. Every Spring about an acre of our wood is carpeted in this most wonderful plant. The fresh green leaves can be chopped and sprinkled on couscous, stired into freshly cooked pasta with a little olive oil and black pepper or added to egg mayonnaise to liven up your sandwiches. This tasty leaf can be utilised wherever culivated garlic is required, though we have found it is better to add the leaves at the end of cooking as they taste better.  Above all, you can just munch on the leaves as they are - you get a delicate taste of garlic that is not at all overpowering.

Once the flowers start to appear the leaves become less potent and lose their flavour. Thankfully this is not a problem as the flowers taste just as wonderful as the leaves. One recipe that works particularly well and helps prolong the Wild Garlic season is Virgin Olive Oil infused with Flowers of Wild Garlic. 

Recipe for Virgin Olive Oil infused with Flowers of Wild Garlic

Olive oil flavoured with wild garlic flowers

• Handful of Wild Garlic flowers removed from stems
• Clean oil bottle
• Olive oil - enough to completely cover the flowers

Gently rinse the flowers taking care not to loosen the petals. Put these in a colander to drip dry and then carefully put onto kitchen towel.  

Once dry, add the flowers to aclean bottle and cover in olive oil. 

Seal the bottle with its stopper and leave in a cupboard for 2 - 3 weeks. The oil which by then will be infused with a delicate garlic flavour can be used for salad dressings and dips.