Springtime is wild garlic time!
Especially now in spring we are often out and about in the forest and enjoy the first warm spring days on a hike. If there is an intense smell of garlic, you are probably lucky and there is a field full of the spicy green wild garlic leaves nearby. Wild garlic is in season from the beginning of March to the middle of May. It is the first green of spring and grows especially well in deciduous forests.
When the baskets are full of the spring greens, we take them home to the kitchen. There we chop the spicy green finely. This year I have already diligently processed wild garlic. I made wild garlic pesto, wild garlic oil and these tasty wild garlic dumplings. Tossed in a little butter and topped with finely grated Tyrolean mountain cheese, the wild garlic dumplings are a real taste sensation.
Tips for picking wild garlic
Beware, wild garlic has a poisonous doppelganger: the lily of the valley. To make sure you don't mix up the green leaves, it's very important to do the smell test before picking. Rub a piece of the leaves between your fingers and check whether the typical garlic smell spreads. Garlic smell means wild garlic, lily of the valley leaves do not smell like it. The underside of the leaves of wild garlic is dull, while lily of the valley has a shiny underside. Autumn crocus (highly poisonous!) also look very similar to wild garlic. However, they can be easily distinguished by their stems. The leaves of the meadow saffron are attached to the stem without a stalk and sprout from the ground in clusters. In the case of wild garlic, each leaf usually grows separately from the ground. So be careful and only pick wild garlic if you are really sure! Alternatively, you can buy it at the farmers' market.
