Pickling Wild Garlic Buds
...and introducing my next book!
I live in a wild garlic hotspot, and for the last few years I’ve been meaning to pickle a few of the unopened flower buds to make an alternative to capers. I’m not usually one to advocate for picking wildflowers but when I say it’s a hotspot, it’s like Day of the Triffids out there.
The particular woodland area I go to every season is so full of wild garlic that it seems to spread further and further each year, lining the paths and filling the air with that lovely, pungent aroma. Even so, I made sure to stagger my pickings, gathering a few from each spot before moving onto a different one until I had enough to fill a jar.
After a good rinse with cold water to remove as many bugs as possible, I popped them in the jar with a warm solution of cider vinegar, sugar and salt. There was a suggestion to add pink peppercorns which, admittedly, would have looked pretty, but accidentally biting into a peppercorn is a horrible experience and I am just not willing to risk it. To prevent the buds from floating to the top and growing mould, I pushed them down with a circle of plastic I cut from the recycling, and then held that in place with two spare Calpol pipettes to keep everything submerged.
After a few weeks in the fridge, I’ll be scattering these over homemade pizza and pasta throughout the summer, which will not only be delicioso but also a little health boost - as you will discover if you pick up my next book!
If you enjoyed my bestselling Concise Foraging Guide, you’ll love my second contribution to the series, Concise Medicinal Plants, which will be published on 15 May with Bloomsbury. It features 163 medicinal plant species you can forage and grow around the UK and Europe, including how to identify, harvest, store, preserve and prepare them.
Here’s a little extract about the health benefits of wild garlic:
‘Valued for its antibacterial, antibiotic and possibly antiviral properties, as well as being rich in minerals. Wild garlic may lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of stroke and heart disease. Traditionally it has been used to treat common colds, coughs and flu as well as a range of other ailments.’
If you’d like to pre-order Concise Medicinal Plants, you can do so in all the usual places! My favourite place to shop online is Bookshop.org, or head to your local indie bookshop and support them. Thank you!
