How to Cook and Heal Yourself With Wild Garlic · François Couplan wrote in his book Le Régal...
Transcript of How to Cook and Heal Yourself With Wild Garlic · François Couplan wrote in his book Le Régal...
COPYRIGHT © 2017 BY ROBIN HARFORD
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Wild garlic (Allium ursinum) is a plant of shady, damp woodlands,
fields and hedgerows.
Peter Wyse Jackson says it is found growing throughout Britain,
Ireland and Europe.
Its tiny white flowers and bright green leaves in some places form
a canopy beneath the trees and in other areas it’s quite scarce.
It is commonplace in ancient woods where it creates a flowering
carpet of star-like blossoms instead of the blue flooring of
bluebells.
The English naturalist William Turner in 1548 knew the plant as
ramsey, bucrammes (buck rammes) and rammes, and several places
in England share its name, such as Ramsbottom (meaning ‘Ramson
valley’) in Lancashire and Ramsey (meaning ‘Ramson island’) in
Essex and Huntingdonshire.
The name ramsons was a metaphor for bitterness in Irish folklore.
There was a saying in County Donegal: “As bitter as wild garlic”.
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How To Cook With Wild Garlic
Wild garlic is a less well-known table vegetable than its
domesticated relative, but it can be used the same as any herb or
green.
Finely chop or bruise the plant to use raw in salads and
sandwiches, or boil and mix with other vegetables to make into
soups and side dishes.
Gerard praised its distinctive taste: “The leaves of Ramsons be
stamped and eaten of divers in the Low-countries, with fish for a
sauce, even as we do eate greene-sauce made with sorrel. The same
leaves may very well be eaten in April and May with butter, of
such as are of a strong constitution, and laboring men.”
The plant was an important wild edible in ancient Ireland. Jackson
writes:
“Chopped leaves add interest to salads or can be added to flavour
other foods, such as stews, sauces, soup or soft cheeses and cottage
cheese. The leaves can also be made into a puree with nuts,
mustard leaves, olive oil and lemon juice to make a pesto that can
be used with pasta or added as flavouring to stews, burgers and
other meats.”
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Coitir tells us it was often gathered to eat raw or cooked in soup or
broth.
The leaves could be wrapped around lamb or fish and grilled for a
mild garlic flavour, as suggested by Houston and Milne (2008), or
chopped with butter and spread over French bread to make “wild
garlic bread”.
As recently as the 19th century in Ireland, wild garlic was used to
flavour butter instead of salt.
For a quick bite, the young leaves can be eaten with bread and
butter, and the flowers can be sprinkled on salads.
The wild herb was so highly valued in Ireland that, according to
the Old Irish Brehon laws, there was a fine for stealing it from
private land – the poacher would forfeit “two and a half milch
cows”.
One wonders how the penalty of two and a half cows was paid.
François Couplan wrote in his book Le Régal Végétal in 2009 that
bear (wild) garlic is one of the most widely consumed wild plants
in Europe since human history began. It has been picked by
individuals and families, sold in markets (including France and
Switzerland), and commercially marketed in cheeses, sauces and
condiments.
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In Eastern Europe, its harvested for the food industry. In Romania,
the leaves are eaten in spring salads dressed with oil and vinegar,
cooked like spinach or made into a sour soup ("ciorba"); in Serbia
and Bosnia, the leaves and bulbs are eaten ("srijemoé"); in Poland,
the leaves are fermented in lactic acid and cal led
"Kiszonyczosnekniedzwiedzi".
In Russia, wild garlic (A. ursinum) and a closely related species (A.
victorialis) are used as an ingredient known as cheremsha.
If you’re thinking about giving wild vegetables a go, why not grow
wild garlic in a shady part of the garden or allotment? The plant is
not well cultivated and the seeds are largely spread by ants.
Nevertheless, if you can encourage wild garlic to grow on your
doorstep, the leaf and bulb are highly nutritious.
The plant has a strong garlic smell that might not appeal to
everyone, but its mild flavour is more reminiscent of onions.
Wild food forager Richard Mabey recommends substituting spring
onion for wild garlic in salads.
He recalls an Italian chef in the Chilterns, England, who “makes a
flavoured olive oil by soaking ramson leaves in it”.
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Wild garlic makes a fine addition to omelettes, cream cheeses or
dips, sauces, and as a side vegetable to fish.
The bulbs, as well as leaves, can be chopped and cooked in
casseroles, and the leaf bulbils can be used like capers.
Wild garlic can be used for several more adventurous dishes, for
example: ‘ramsons risotto’, ‘bear garlic soup’, and ‘beartsiki’ – a
twist on the Greek tsatsiki.
If you don’t have time to deliver your own ramsons delight to the
table – don’t worry. Wild garlic leaves are simply delicious in
peanut butter sandwiches, according to late English ecologist
Oliver Rackham.
The juice of ramsons was once used as a household disinfectant.
The garlic-smelling leaves were used in Scotland to repel midges.
Nutrition of Wild Garlic
100g of wild garlic leaves contain 45mg of vitamin C and almost
5mg of beta carotene.
100g of wild garlic bulbs have 16mg of vitamin C and over 2mg of
protein.
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Folklore of Wild Garlic
The plant’s common name of ‘bear garlic’ is from the belief that
bears ate wild garlic to regain their strength after a long winter’s
slumber.
As one author says: “Plants of the bear contain the power of
renewal and purification. Specifically, they break up hardenings,
warm the body and make a person ‘as strong as a bear.”
The cloves of wild garlic were planted for good luck in the thatch
of Irish cottages; this custom was also thought to deter fairies.
The plant makes an appearance in Irish legends and poems. The
Mad Sweeney – a king of Country Antrim – exiled himself from
society and survived in the wild by eating plants, including wild
garlic.
The poem about the Hill of Howth, in north County Dublin,
mentions the herb: “the peak bright-knolled beyond all hills…full
of wild garlic and trees”.
In magic and ritual, wild garlic was thought to scare away
venomous creatures; as you’ll read later, this might explain why
Dioscorides thought it cured snake bites.
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A stranger custom told athletes to chew a piece of the plant before
a race to ensure victory; and a similar belief was held for men
going into battle.
In astrology, wild garlic was ruled by Mars and Neptune. If it was
planted at full moon, it was thought to grow like an onion with
only one bulb.
In early Christian traditions, wild garlic flowers were used to
decorate churches on the feast day of St Alphege (19 April). The
church must have overwhelmed its congregation with the smell.
Health Benefits Of Wild Garlic
Ancient Greek physician Dioscorides wrote in the 1st century that
garlic could cure the bites of snakes, although this remedy was
little mentioned in the works of early herbalists in Britain and
Ireland.
Early healers among the Celts, Teutonic tribes and ancient
Romans were familiar with the wild herb and called it herba
salutaris, meaning ‘healing herb’.
The Physicians of Myddfai, a group of herbalists first recorded
around the 13th century in Wales, used wild garlic as a healing
plant.
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Its medicinal value was believed to be diaphoretic (induced
sweating), diuretic (increased urine flow), expectorant (eased
breathing), stimulating and antiseptic.
A remedy was recorded by the Welsh physicians: “for a swelling of
the stomach. Take goats’ whey, and pound the herb called ramsons,
mixing together and straining. Let it be your only drink for three
days”.
John Gerard, English herbalist in the 16th century, wrote that wild
garlic was good for curing stones in the body.
His recommendation was carried into the Scottish Highlands and
Islands, where an infusion of the leaves was drunk for ‘gravel’ or
‘stone; the remedy was sometimes taken with brandy.
The plant was made into a poultice for infected wounds and an
infusion drunk as a blood tonic.
Wild garlic was greatly valued for its healing properties in Irish
folk medicine. It was eaten raw or boiled in milk and rubbed onto
skin as a remedy.
The herb was used to treat a host of illnesses: toothache, worms,
warts, corns, sores (specifically on the fingers), wounds, sore eyes,
toothache, coughs, colds, sore throats, chest and lung infections,
asthma, stomach aches, indigestion, kidney problems, measles,
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mumps, rheumatism, sciatica, tuberculosis; it was even used as a
blood purifier and to dissolve blood clots.
The vast range of diseases for which wild garlic was indicated in
Ireland made it regarded as a panacea. “’Nine diseases shiver before
the garlic’ is a County Sligo saying.
The herb was carried in people’s pockets to ward off flu during the
1918 pandemic in Ireland.
In other parts of the British Isles, the leaves of wild garlic were
worn under the soles of the feet to prevent people from catching
coughs and colds.
On the Isle of Man, the bulbs were pickled in brown sugar and
rum to be stored over winter as a cough-and-cold remedy.
Wild garlic was considered a good preventative in Irish folk
medicine to ward off coughs, colds and flu – a belief that was
shared in other parts of Britain.
A 17th-century proverb said eating leeks in March and ramsons in
May would keep the doctor away:
“Eat leeks in Lide March and ramsins in May
And all the year after physitians may play.
CN French, A Countryman’s Day Book (1929)
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In Ireland, wild garlic was sometimes employed as a veterinary
remedy for various ailments in horses and cattle, such as ringworm
in calves.
In County Westmeath, the herb was grown in fields for cows to
graze because of its beneficial effects; although some said it tainted
the flavour of butter.
As recently as 2001, there is a record of using wild garlic cloves –
inserted under the tail – to treat cattle diseases.
Modern Medicinal Uses of Wild Garlic
Wild garlic (A. ursinum) has many benefits over its domesticated
cousin (A. sativum).
It was recognised as “Plant of the Year” in 1992 by the Association
for the Protection and Research of European Medicinal Plants.
A. ursinum has higher quantities of the heart-friendly constituents
ajoene and adenosine, which help to lower blood pressure and
reduce blood cholesterol.
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Research by Professor Holger Kiesewetter at Homburg University
Clinic, Germany, found that one gram of wild garlic taken daily
can improve blood circulation.
Wild garlic is not only a heart protector and blood purifier, it also
cleanses and improves digestion, which is helpful to various
ailments from skin disorders to stomach problems, and it boosts
the body’s immune system.
The bruised plant releases a chemical called allicin that acts against
microorganisms. This supports its use in herbalism for coughs,
colds, flu and sore throats.
Present-day herbals also recommend wild garlic as a stomach
tonic, and for conditions that benefit from improved flow of bile
and increased urination; it can be used to relieve cramps and
tackle obesity.
As a healing herb, wild garlic can be drunk as a tea, taken as a
macerated oil (for example, in olive oil), or eaten raw in salads and
sandwiches.
Another advantage wild garlic has over cultivated garlic is that it’s
almost odourless when eaten; although the plant has a strong
aroma, its flavour is milder and won’t give you ‘garlic breath’.
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It’s even recommended for cats and dogs – the chopped leaves can
be mixed with pet food to prevent worms – and for horses – mixed
with fodder to repel flies.
Before rushing out to pick wild garlic in spring, however, do check
first with your doctor before using a herbal medicine to treat any
condition.
Toxicity, Contraindications and Side Effects of Wild Garlic
Some people are allergic to plants related to garlic and reported
side effects from taking wild garlic range from bad breath and
stomach upsets to allergic reactions.
Overindulgence in the herb might also cause flatulence and
heartburn.
Duke cautions that it may thin blood and therefore is not suitable
for people taking blood-thinning medication.
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