If you are quick enough you can still forage wild garlic. April and May are the best times to harvest this lovely herb.You will recognise it instantly when you crush the leaves and smell the strong garlic scent.
You will see it growing wild on the shady floor of woods, along pathways and in gardens.
There are two types of wild garlic commonly found here in Ireland and across Europe; Allium ursinum, native to Ireland, is also known as ramsoms, or in Irish creamh. There is also the naturalised Allium sativum, also known as three-cornered leek, or glaschreamh in Irish. It's shown in the picture on the right which was taken at the Grand Canal near Mount Street in Dublin City.
Working with Food Stylist Johan van der Merwe in a wood in Wicklow, we collected a couple of handfuls of wild garlic
After finely chopping the wild garlic leaves with red chilli flakes Johan added virgin olive oil to make a wild garlic pesto.
Then fried up a few mushrooms with onions and a handful of wild garlic and served with the lamb chops and the wild garlic pesto. Lovely.
