Wild garlic

What is wild garlic?

Bear’s garlic or allium ursinum or wild garlic, is an abundant plant in our humid and cool forests, you will find it in vast expanses. The characteristics of wild garlic are very special, as is its smell.

How do you find wild garlic?

It is a perennial plant of the cool and shady undergrowth to see a little damp, It grows in limestone ground in the very rocky undergrowth by the river or in a very humid wood, its leaves with converging veins are green and lanceolate, it can reach 15 to 30 cm in height, it gives off a very strong characteristic garlic odor. It grows in colonies and is very abundant. The pure white flower is a bouquet of small flowers with 6 star-shaped petals, it is consumed as a bud just before the flower opens. Wild garlic is an abundant plant in our forests, generous it is collected at the beginning of spring. During family walks, it is always a day that children love.

Where does the name “Bear’s Garlic” come from?

This plant is called wild garlic, also called wild garlic because it would be the first herb eaten by bears when they come out of hibernation.
It is cultivated naturally and leaves everyone with a multitude of combinations for cooking, starters, vegetables, sauces, and especially pesto. Everyone can go according to their whims. When you include it in recipes it is often a surprise to your guests, a way to introduce friends to forest cooking, but it is also widely used in ornamental gardens.

Good for cooking but that’s not all

Wild garlic is also a Medicinal Plant used against atherosclerosis and against hypertension, often in the form of capsules or standardized drops. It is very rich in sulphurous essential oil and also in vitamin C. It is advisable to use it preferably raw to preserve vitamin C. It has magnesium, iron, it purifies the blood, facilitates digestion, it is deworming and depurative, in a way, it is a beneficial plant for health.
Already in prehistoric times, it is an ancient plant, pollens were found during prehistoric excavations.
Be careful, in the absence of flowers, it can be confused with May Lily of the Valley or Autumn Colchicum, both very toxic … The smell of garlic is a good way to avoid making mistakes.

For the wild garlic season and this for a week, I will put one recipe per day that you can find in the wild garlic category.

Wednesday: Flower aperitif

Thursday Tagliatelle wild garlic and ham

Friday Wild garlic and goat cheese pie

Saturday Tagliatelle with wild garlic and salmon

Sunday Aperitif with wild garlic.

Monday Cannelé with wild garlic

Some recipes are already online, don’t hesitate:
Wild garlic stuffed trout
Wild garlic pesto
Wild garlic tartlet
Crab and wild garlic pie

Enough to get a good green cure but be careful with your breath:)

Now, do you have any advice or recipes on wild garlic ? Tell me what you think…

LeavesThe flowerThe budLaminatedTagliatelle HamSalmon TagliatelleGoat pieTaostPesto onlineStuffed trout in lineOnline tartletcrab pie
Sources of information:
http://lepetitmontagnard.over-blog.fr/article-33006165.html
http://www.aujardin.info/plantes/ail-des-ours.php
http://cueillette-cie.over-blog.com/article-ail-des-ours-50210939.html