The best of wild garlic I MYHOME BLOG

The best of wild garlic

Discovered by chance, the chef of the century Eckart Witzigmann gave wild garlic the big stage it deserved decades ago. Here Eckart Witzigmann reveals his best recipes.

Somehow reassuring that even in the life of a renowned chef there are culinary surprises now and then. It was a few decades ago, Eckart Witzigmann was walking through the English Garden in Munich with his family, friends and dog, when a very unusual smell hit his nose. Witzigmann immediately picked up the trail, landing in a field full of plants with elongated leaves that looked like lilies of the valley but smelled like garlic.

It was the beginning of a great love affair, the future chef of the century tinkered with recipes and ensured a revival in upscale cuisine of the wild vegetable whose season is spring and which you often smell before you see it. In our country wild garlic likes to be found near water or in shady, moist and humus-rich forests. To be sure that you are collecting wild garlic and not its (poisonous) relatives, lily of the valley or meadow saffron, it is advisable to first rub the leaves – only wild garlic has the aforementioned garlicky smell. In addition, the leaves of wild leek are always dull on the underside, while lily of the valley and autumn crocus shiny.

Once picked, wild garlic is versatile. Star chef Eckart Witzigmann has published a book on the subject (“Meine besten Bärlauchrezepte”, published by Servus Verlag, 64 pages, € 12,-). For us, he has chosen three particularly delicious recipes.

Herb and wild garlic salad with mushrooms

Ingredients for 4 people:

Herb salad:

– ½ bunch parsley

– 1 handful chervil leaves

– 8 small wild garlic leaves, cut into fine strips

– 50 g dandelion, cleaned

– ½ bunch dill

– ½ bunch tarragon

– 1 pinch salt

– Pepper from the mill

– 6 tablespoons olive oil

– Juice from 1 lemon

Mushrooms:

– 1 tablespoon lemon juice

– ½ tsp Xérès vinegar

– Salt and pepper from the mill

– 1 tsp horseradish cream

– 1 tablespoon sour cream

– 2 tablespoons cream, liquid

– 1 tablespoon mayonnaise

– 1 Msp. Mustard

– 2 tablespoons olive oil

– 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

– 12 very small mushrooms with closed heads

– some plucked chervil and chives, finely chopped

Also:

– 6 small wild garlic leaves, washed and cut into fine strips

– Dandelion for garnish

– small bread or white bread cubes

Preparation:

– For the herb salad, pluck the leaves of the herbs, wash briefly and drain.

– For the vinaigrette, mix the salt and pepper well, pour in the olive oil and mix with the lemon juice.

– For the mushroom and cream sauce, mix the lemon juice, vinegar, salt, pepper, horseradish, sour cream, cream, mayonnaise and mustard and slowly add the oil.

– Clean the fresh mushrooms with a damp cloth and quarter them.

– Quickly mix the herb salad loosely with the vinaigrette at the last moment. Place the mushrooms in the center of the plate, top with cream and sprinkle with wild garlic strips. Decorate with dandelions. Toast the bread cubes and sprinkle on top.

Gratin of wild garlic with leeks and potatoes

Ingredients for 2 people:

– 2 leeks 150 g each

– 400 g potatoes

– 150 g wild garlic

– 100 g cooked ham

– some butter

Béchamel sauce

– 60 g butter

– 30 g flour

– 350 ml milk

– 200 ml vegetable water (produced when vegetables are cooked)

– Salt

– white pepper

– Nutmeg

Cheese crust:

– 50 g Gruyère, grated

– 20 g parmesan cheese, grated

– 20 g butter, diced

Preparation:

– Wash the leeks and cut them into 1 cm thick rings. Wash the potatoes, peel and cut into 4 mm thick slices.

– Boil potatoes in salted water until al dente. Remove from water and place in a larger bowl. Add leeks to salted water and simmer for one minute. Add the wild garlic and bring to the boil again. Remove everything from the water and rinse with ice water, squeeze a little and add to the potatoes in the bowl.

– Cut the ham into small cubes, fry briefly in butter and mix into the vegetables.

– For the bechamel sauce, warm the butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour, then pour in the cold milk and vegetable water, stirring constantly. Simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring repeatedly. Finally, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Mix the béchamel with the vegetables or put them in layers in an ovenproof dish (4-5 cm high). Sprinkle with the cheese and spread the butter cubes on top. Put in the oven at 180 degrees. After 30 minutes, turn off the oven and let the gratin cook for another 10 minutes.

TIP: If you want to taste the wild garlic flavor more intensely, blanch only half and add the other half raw.

Steamed salmon trout fillets in wild garlic sauce

Ingredients for 4 people:

– 4 salmon trout fillets with skin, 180 g each

– 10 g butter

– Salt

– Pepper from the mill

– 1 shallot, finely chopped

– some lemon juice

– 4 cl white wine

Sauce

– 50 g flat leaf parsley

– 100 g wild garlic

– 150 g sour cream

– 2 spring onion

– 300 g garden cucumber, gross (180 g without seeds)

– 20 g butter

– Fish stock or vegetable stock

– 1 floury potato (approx. 60 g)

– approx. 20 g brown butter

– 1 large tablespoon whipped cream

Also:

– fried potato cubes for sprinkling

Preparation:

– For the sauce, bring the washed parsley and 80 g of wild garlic to the boil very quickly in boiling salted water and immediately rinse in ice water until cold, then squeeze well. Mix very finely with 20 g raw wild garlic and the sour cream.

– Finely slice the cleaned and washed spring onions (with some green on them) and the peeled, halved and seeded cucumber. Lightly salt the cucumber seeds and add the juice to the sauce. Melt the butter, sauté the onions until light and add the cucumber slices.

– Add fish stock or vegetable broth, season to taste, quickly boil until soft and finely blend. You can thicken the liquid with the finely grated potato.

– Now mix the wild garlic mixture into the sauce, heat again briefly, but do not let it boil. Finally, add the brown butter and the whipped cream.

– In the meantime, steam the fillets. To do this, butter a pan and sprinkle with salt, pepper and the finely chopped shallot. Place the fish fillets skin side down on top, season again. Sprinkle with lemon juice and add the white wine. Cover the fillets with buttered paper and steam in a preheated oven at 140 °C for about 3-4 minutes per side. Peel off the fish skin before serving.

Book tip: “My best wild garlic recipes” (published by Servus Verlag, 64 pages, 12 EUR).