Wild garlic is a seasonal ingredient on many menus in spring. The useful life of the tasty ones can be extended considerably if parts of the plant are preserved by pickling.

Be careful when harvesting wild wild garlic

Before pickling, it is important to harvest the wild garlic at the right time. The still closed buds can only be collected during a few days in March or April. The fresh green leaves of the wild garlic have the most pleasant aroma in spring, but look confusingly similar to some poisonous plants. These plants are:

  • the poisonous rod of Aaron
  • the lily of the valley growing out of the ground at the same time
  • the autumn crocuses

If you do not plant your wild garlic for the kitchen in the garden, but collect it in the forest, you should definitely carry out a smell test of the leaves. To do this, rub a leaf between your fingers and identify real wild garlic by its typical garlic-like smell.

The canning of the leaves

The wild garlic leaves can only be kept fresh in the refrigerator for a few days. However, they can be preserved by soaking them in olive oil. To do this, wash the raw leaves and chop them into a fine chunk. Then mix them with good quality olive oil and some salt. This mass can be stored in screw-top jars in the refrigerator for about two to three months and can be used as a spice in various recipes.

Obtaining a substitute for capers from wild garlic buds

Wild garlic buds, collected in time before flowering, can be processed into a caper-like delicacy. To do this, the capers are boiled with a little herb vinegar and seasoned with salt and spices as desired. After about three days, the herbal vinegar is boiled again and put back into the jars with the wild garlic buds. About two weeks of storage in dark and cool conditions is enough before the wild garlic capers obtained in this way can be used as a tasty appetizer or delicious sandwich topping.

tips and tricks

When preserving wild garlic, make sure that you only use wild garlic that has been harvested as freshly as possible. Wild garlic that has already wilted will no longer deliver good results, even when pickled.

The garden journal freshness ABC

How can fruit and vegetables be stored correctly so that they stay fresh for as long as possible?

The garden journal freshness ABC as a poster:

  • as a free PDF file to print out yourself

Category:

Herbs