It's the little things that do it. This little recipe proves that. Chives salt is a simple wild garlic recipe. Delicious for salting your egg or other savoury dishes. Our wild picking expert Katja will gladly tell you more about it!
Chives salt, salt with a garlicky flavour
The recipe is super simple: handful of wild garlic, handful of salt and you have a delicious seasoning with a salty-garlic-like bite. That garlic flavour comes from wild garlic, a special little plant that ‘just’ grows in the Netherlands. Daslook is a special little plant that was protected until 2017. It is a wild plant with oblong leaves and white star-shaped flowers, mostly found in wooded, semi-shaded areas. It has a garlicky smell and taste, which makes it popular in cooking. The edible leaves are suitable for salads, pestos and soups, among other things. The star-shaped flowers are wonderful to use as a decoration for a dish, the seed pods can be pickled like capers, and the tubers below ground can be used as ‘garlic cloves’. Besides culinary uses, badger garlic also has medicinal properties. It is rich in iron and vitamin C and thus has a positive effect on the immune system.
While you should be very aware of what you are doing with any wild-picking operation, extra caution is needed with wild garlic. This is because the plant has two poisonous brothers (or sisters) that look a damn sight alike. The mayflower is one of them and is often better known as the beautiful, lovely-smelling but incredibly poisonous Lily of the Valley. Not an experienced wildflower picker? Then go in search of wild garlic with a guide or plant it in your garden!
Making wild garlic salt, a simple game-picking recipe for spring.
Mandarin salt
Kitchenware
- knife
- oven
Ingredients
- handful of wild garlic leaves
- your favourite salt
Instructions
- Finely slice the ramson leaves into strips across the width of the leaf. Dry them in the oven at 60°C (2-4 hours). Leave the oven ajar so the leaves don't burn (or use a special drying oven). Is the wild garlic dry? Then mix it with your favourite salt.
- Always make sure the leaves are completely dried before mixing them with the salt, this way you avoid possible mould growth.
Taking a picking break: do you know the game picking rules yet?
Wild picking is not only super fun (and tasty!), but also something you need to know a little about. It is officially banned in the Netherlands, but in many places it is turned a blind eye - as long as you do it properly. Think of nature as a wonderful buffet we can all taste from, but only if we behave. So pick with love, not greed. Want to know more? Read the unwritten rules of wild picking. We have listed it for you!
Would you also like to go on the road with Katja? Check out her website Wilderlust with all the information about its wild-picking walks and courses.
More game picking tips from thegreenlist.nl
- Also see: On a game picking walk!
- Also see: Dutch pesto of ground elder and wild garlic.
- Also see: capers from wild garlic seeds.
Photo credits: thegreenlist.nl & wilderlust.nl.
