Wild Garlic Soup to start off the Spring
by meike peters
Walking through the forest is one thing I miss the most living in the city. Its earthy smell, the musty air captured by the trees changing with the seasons makes me feel at home. Especially in spring, when the green comes out again and everything smells light and fresh with the first flowers starting to blossom. I want to walk on soft soil watching nature unraveling around me!
One of the most distinct smells you can find at the moment when walking though a European forest close to a river or lake is the smell of garlic, wild garlic. Coming from a little plant which covers the ground in large areas and looks similar to lilies of the valley. It’s a wild relative of chives also known as ramps, ramsons, buckrams, wood garlic or bear’s garlic as they must be quite taken by it. In taste it’s similar to chives but with a unique touch to it, spicy, a bit like garlic but fresher, more “green”. The leaves are best when young and fresh, great in pesto, soups or to spice up other vegetables and meat.
I’m totally with the bears, I love cooking with it and when I spotted it at the market I got excited and had lots of recipes on my mind. Inspiration for the weeks to come! I will start with a tangy but smooth soup, the leaves of two bunches of wild garlic, potatoes, onion and a few spring onions on top. It doesn’t take much to make this springy soup of the forest!
Wild Garlic Soup
For 4 people you need
wild garlic, rinsed and stems cut off, the leaves of 2 bunches (around 100g / 3.5 ounces)
potatoes, cut into cubes, 750g / 1.5 pounds
onions, chopped 2
water 1500ml
heavy cream 180ml
salt and pepper
olive oil for frying
spring onion, cut into thin slices, 1 for topping
In a large pot, bring the water to the boil and cook the wild garlic for 2 minutes. Take it out with a slotted ladle, rinse under cold water for a few seconds but keep the boiled water! Fry the onions in some oil until golden, add the potatoes, some salt and the water used to cook the wild garlic and cook for 12 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. Add the wild garlic and cream and mix in a blender till smooth. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with spring onions when served on plates.
[…] I wrote about my wild garlic soup two weeks ago, a couple of the more attentive followers of eat in my kitchen told me that […]
So you use both the green leafy part and white part of the onion to make this soup? Hence, the green color. I was confused because it says to cut the stems off. I have never seen wild garlic here in Peru. Maybe it would be a available in the farmer’s market. I have heard of the word “ramp” in the U.S. Your soup looks divine.
Hello Sheila, I only use the leaves of the wild garlic without the long stems (they sell them here without the white part, just with the long green stems). I will add the name ramp to the text, it was new to me. It’s true, the colour is beautiful! It’s so quick to prepare and tastes so good, I hope you can find some in Peru! Have a nice Sunday, Meike
I have never seen ramps for sale in the area stores and by the time farmers markets open in May, here, they are out of season. There is one store that I go to in a town about 50 miles from here that may carry them…will have to make a special trip to find them! The soup looks and sounds so delicious.
That sounds like a journey! Depending on the region you’re living in, they’re are hard to find here as well. I used to live close to a forest that was full of wild garlic at this time of the year. I went there for jogging and I used to take bags with me to pick the leaves, bags full of wild garlic to make pesto! It’s so good with pasta but also spread on dark toasted bread. I’m really happy they are in season again!
I never heard of the name ramps, thanks for telling me, another one to add to the list!