Tag: barlauch

Wild Garlic Soup

24 April 2023

Only a few days to go before the end of the Wild Garlic season. The season starts early February when the first leaves appear. Mid-April the star shaped white flowers appear, beautiful and also edible. When the flowers go to seed it’s the end of the season and the leaves become bitter and chewy.

Wild Garlic can be used to make pesto, it can be added to a dish with white asparagus and morels and it’s delicious when combined with fennel and potato. Preparing Wild Garlic soup is also a good idea. The first time we tasted it, at Zum Fliegenden Holländer in Potsdam, Germany, we expected the soup to be a bit simple, probably we would taste onion, touch of garlic and potatoes. We were wrong, the soup was much more complicated and sophisticated than expected. The flavour was mild, we could clearly taste the Wild Garlic, but very gentle, with some sweetness. The overall taste was pleasant and lasting. Perhaps the potato was too present, but that was a minor detail. Bärlauchsuppe proofed to be delicious, refreshing and very much a tribute to spring.

What You Need

  • 150 grams of Wild Garlic Leaves
  • 500 ml of Stock
  • 1 Shallot
  • ½ Garlic Clove
  • Potato Starch
  • Cream
  • Olive Oil
  • Black Pepper
  • Nutmeg

What You Do

Wash and dry the leaves. Chop the shallot and the garlic. We were lucky, our bunch of leaves also contained a few flower buds. We chopped these as well. Warm a pan, add some olive oil and glaze the onions and the garlic (and the flower buds). After a few minutes add the stock. We used homemade quail stock, which brought additional sweetness to the soup. Leave to simmer for a few minutes. Coarsely chop the leaves, add these to the pan and leave for perhaps one minute. Be careful, you don’t want to discolour the leaves. Use a blender to make a smooth liquid. Pass the liquid through a sieve. Add one to two teaspoons of potato starch and mix very well. Add cream and leave for a few minutes. Just before serving add some excellent olive oil and black pepper, blender for 1 or 2 seconds and serve with some freshly grated nutmeg.

PS

We use potato starch to remain close to the basic idea of the Bärlauchsuppe in Potsdam. Potato Starch has a neutral taste and a high binding strength. If you use a (starchy) potato, then peel and cube it and add it to the stock. Remove the potato cubes when they are ready, add the chopped leaves, leave to simmer and then blender. Mash the potato cubes, combine with some of the liquid, add the mash to the soup and whisk well. If you blender the liquid with the potato, you risk ending up with a gluey, sticky soup.

Wild Garlic Soup ©cadwu
Fresh Wild Garlic ©cadwu

Potato, Fennel and Wild Garlic

13 April 2023

So many names for this great plant: Ramson(s), Wild Garlic, Bear Leek, Daslook, Ail des Ours, Bärlauch, Ramsløg, Aglio Orsino, Allium ursinum, it is one of the highlights of spring. Powerful, pure and tasty. It can be harvested from the wild, but fortunately some green grocers also sell Wild Garlic. The taste is a combination of onion and garlic, but much greener, longer lasting and with a touch of bitterness at the end. You can turn the leaves into a strong pesto, but better use it as herb with for instance potatoes or gnocchi. It is also great when used in a dish with white asparagus and morels. The flowers are also edible and are a great decoration for savory dishes and salads.

We combine Wild Garlic with potatoes and fresh fennel. The anise-taste and the light crunchiness of the fennel go very well with this rich, lightly onion flavoured potato mash.

What You Need

  • Potato
  • Butter
  • Cream
  • Fennel
  • Wild Garlic
  • Black Pepper
  • Salt (optional)

What You Do

Dice the peeled potatoes and cook until ready to mash. Very finely dice some fennel, let’s say one tablespoon per one large potato. Add cream, butter and diced fennel to the mashed potato, mix and leave on very low heat. Remove the veins from the wild garlic leaves and tear the leaves, as you would do with basil. Add some of them to the mash, add black pepper and perhaps a pinch of salt. Leave for a few minutes, add more butter or cream if so required and more leaves. If you’re happy with the consistency and the taste, it’s time to add some more torn leaves to the mash. Serve immediately.

PS

Other elements on the plate are Saucisse de Morteau, Frankfurter and petit farci. More about the latter in one of our next posts!

Potato, Fennel and Wild Garlic ©cadwu
Ransom © Gail Hampshire from wikipedia commons

Halibut with Morels

12 May 2022

Seasonal eating is such a great idee. Simply buy (locally produced) seasonal fruit, vegetables and mushrooms, enjoy fresher and better tasting ingredients, reduce your carbon footprint and support your local community. And it creates lots of tasty opportunities: celebrate the beginning of the truffle season, the start of the asparagus season, the first red wine from the Beaujolais region – all good fun.

Part of the concept (at least, we think so) is commemorating the end of a season. In the Netherlands the morel-season ends early May. This year was a particularly good year for morels, we had some beautiful, tasty ones, for a reasonable price. But now it’s time to prepare the last morel dish of the season. And the last one with Ramson! A very tasty dish, one that requires a bit of work, but the result is absolutely yummy!

Wine Pairing

The richness of the dish requires a full-bodied white wine, for instance a glass of Chardonnay; one that has a touch of oak and vanilla plus a lightly buttery finish. Our choice would be the Chardonnay of La Cour des Dames. 

What You Need

  • Halibut
    • Halibut (slice with skin and bone preferred)
    • Olive Oil
  • Morels
    • 50 grams of Morels
    • Olive Oil
  • Sauce
    • Shallot
    • Olive Oil
    • Fish Stock
    • Noilly Prat
    • Crème Fraîche
    • Butter
    • White Pepper
  • Ramson (Wild Garlic)

What You Do

Clean and half the morels. Fry these gently in a heavy iron skillet for at least 10 minutes.
In parallel heat a small heavy iron skillet, gently fry the chopped shallot. When soft, add the garlic and one or two ice cubes of fish stock. Add a splash of Noilly Prat. When warm, blender the mixture, pass through a sieve and return to the pan. Add some crème fraiche. Warm through and through.
In parallel fry the halibut in a separate (non-stick) pan. First on the skin side, then turn the fish, remove the skin and turn again. The result should be golden. Whilst still in the pan, remove the bone. This gives you two portions of fish per person.
Slice a few leaves of ramson lengthwise, removing the vein.
When the fish is opaque, it’s time to add a bit of butter to the sauce and a touch of white pepper.
Serve the fish on top of the sauce, add the morels and the leaves.

PS

We served the halibut with morels on plates designed by Walter Gropius and produced by Rosenthal; a classic plate in Bauhaus Style.

Halibut with Morels ©cadwu
Halibut with Morels ©cadwu

Farfalle with Ramson (or Wild Garlic) and Parmesan Cheese

8 April 2020

Ramson

In a number of countries ramson is a protected plant, so we don’t suggest you run out of the door and start picking it. But if it’s not protected, feel free to start running!
Ramson is much-loved in Germany, Austria (Bärlauch) and other parts of Europe. Its taste is like a combination of onion and garlic, but much greener, more intense, longer lasting and with a touch of bitterness at the end. Works very well as a pesto, but equally nice with potatoes or gnocchi. Once we made ramson soup, but that was not the best idea ever.
The flowers may have (if you’re lucky) a touch of sweetness because of the nectar in the flower. Always taste the leaves and the flowers before using and feel free to adjust quantities.

Wine Pairing

We would suggest a Soave to go with the dish. The Garganega grape combines very well with the specific taste of the ramson, given the wine is fresh with a subtle bitterness.

What You Need

  • 20 or so leaves of Ramson
  • Olive Oil
  • Parmesan Cheese
  • Farfalle
  • Lemon Juice

What You Do

Cut the leaves in smaller bits and blitz the leaves with grated Parmesan cheese. If you want to soften the taste, now is the moment to add some toasted almonds or pine nuts. Slowly add the olive oil until blended and smooth. Maybe you want to add a bit of lemon juice.
Cook the farfalle and serve with the pesto and some grated Parmesan cheese.
You can store the pesto for a week or so in the refrigerator if you add some extra olive oil to the jar, covering the pesto.

Farfalla with Pesto of Ramson © cadwu
Ramson (or Wild Garlic) © cadwu
Pesto of Ramson © cadwu