Ramsons
Allium ursinum currently growing in a damp woodland near you. Also known as ramsons. As you can see the flowers still haven’t opened as it’s been a bit dry lately.
Wild garlic as it first appears before flowering
I picked some in the woods yesterday, in my guise as ye olde wise woman of Bristle, and many people stopped and asked if I was picking mushrooms.
‘No my lovers’ said I, ‘Yer be ramsons’.
‘Oh yes we could smell the garlic, but how do you know which one it is?’
In reply ye olde wise one handed them a leaf from her basket and said, ‘Here try for yourself.’
‘What are you going to do with it?’
Treat it like chives or garlic, chop it up, make it into pesto, add it into scrambled eggs. ‘ (For an olde wise one I am not very good at punctuating dialogue, so I’ll stop right there)
Strong while they are raw, the taste is very mild when they are cooked. Pick the small leaves and the flower buds and keep them in a cardboard punnet in the fridge, sprinkled with a bit of water. They should keep a day that way. If you can’t bend down to grab some, then Riverford Organic Vegetable boxes have them too in the next week or so. I bet there are loads of recipes around.
Ulrike and Lynne have both been baking with these: Ulrike made ciabatta rolls and Lynne a country loaf – the ingredient of the day! I joined in the following day : Here are my wild garlic ciabatta buns and the recipe for them courtesy of Baker Süpke in Thuringen, Germany.
Wikipedia says : Ramsons (Allium ursinum) (also known as buckrams, wild garlic, broad-leaved garlic, wood garlic, sremuš or bear’s garlic) is a wild relative of chives. The Latin name owes to the brown bear‘s taste for the bulbs and habit of digging up the ground to get at them; they are also a favorite of wild boar.
They also make a lovely alternative to garlic in many other dishes as here : Potato Masala Dosa with Wild Garlic
Zeb Bakes 
I am just baking ramson ciabatta buns ;-)
That sounds wonderful, maybe I should join you? Is the recipe for the ciabatta on your blog Ulrike? I am terrible at ciabatta :(
Fascinating, my bristling friend…
I figured when you mentioned ransoms recently, you weren’t talking about hostages and proof of life. :)
They are definitely proof of life! It’s bursting out all over finally here. Hedgerows, frothy white trees, tweetage in the tops. Strange word ramsons, the ‘m’ and the ‘n’ are the other way round. I ‘ve just gone back a third time and corrected the spelling (!)
Joanna, it’s a recipe from Bäcker Süpke who owns some bakeries in Thüringen. I used 21 grams (not 31 grams) of salt in the final dough and 25 grams of chopped ramson. And “Teig aufziehen” means stretch and fold HTH
Ah ha! I know of Bäcker Süpke! I make his brotchen, thanks to NIls at Ye Olde Breade Blogge – and very fine they are too. Vielen Dank Ulrike!
Das werde ich auch hoffentlich versuchen!
Ulrike, I have had a quick go at translating the recipe, can I email it to you so you can see if I have it right? :)
Got the mail and answered :-)
I made a country style loaf with this in today- White,rye and spelt.Lovely deep mild taste..bread and cheese for supper! Love your photo
Sounds delicious Lynne! Ulrike is giving me tips on making ciabatta rolls with wild garlic. Look at these she made, aren’t they beautiful?