Wild Ramps (Wild Leeks)
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Fresh wild ramps are also called wild leeks. This foraged edible is garlicky and fragrant, and only available for a short time each year in spring. They are among the first green things to show their heads in the grey, bare forest. Native to North America, ramps grow from South Carolina to Canada, and we follow the season as it moves northward. Long appreciated by country folk and eaten as a spring tonic, the ramp has in recent years taken on a mantle of cult status among chefs in fine restaurants. As a result, there are more people enjoying ramps than ever before. Ramps have defied attempts at cultivation, so are only picked in the wild. Our teams of foragers comb the woods, revisit favorite ramp patches, and take care not to over-pick in any one area. As an early spring wild edible the motto with ramps is: get them while you can.- Wild, foraged ramps, Allium tricoccum
- Seasonally available
- Product of North America
- 1 pound bunch
- Keep refrigerated
- For best taste, store in the refrigerator and use within 3-5 days of receipt
Cooking Methods: Sauté, Blanch
Since ramps are foraged in the wild, they tend to be quite dirty, and can carry forest debris. Give the bulbs and roots a good initial rinse then cut off the roots as close to the bulb as possible, and run under water, being careful not to get too much water into the folds and curls of the leaves. Lay ramps out on a tea towel to dry. The leaves and bulbs are both edible, though are often cooked separately, as the bulbs take a bit more time to cook through. Ramps can be eaten raw, as you would a scallion, though they will be much stronger in flavor. The bulbs offer a nice punch of garlic flavor that's welcome in stir-fry, casseroles, soups, and potato dishes. They also make excellent pickles. The leaves are delicious when quickly sautéed, made into a pesto or added to compound butter.
We partner with foragers who are conscientious about how they harvest wild plants. They protect the ramp patches by rotating to different fields annually, never harvesting more than a third of an area, and re-seeding and transplanting ramps that are not used. Available only for a short time, ramps are one of the most treasured of seasonal ingredients - so enjoy them while you can.
