Wild garlic butter is so blissful that you can hardly believe that the main ingredient - wild garlic - just grows around your corner. Our wild-picking expert Katja shares her recipe!
Chive butter, delicious on a sandwich or on a drinks board
The recipe for wild garlic butter is super simple: handful of wild garlic, a dollop of salted butter and you have a delicious seasoning on a sandwich or toast. 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!
This is how to recognise ramson. Once it grows in your garden, it goes really fast.
Saskia getting started with Katja's wild garlic butter recipe. Delicious!
Wild pick recipe: wild garlic butter
Kitchenware
- knife
- cling film
Ingredients
- 10 ramson leaves
- 125 gr salted butter
Instructions
- Take the butter from the fridge in advance and place in a warm place.
- Cut the ramson leaves into very fine pieces. Soften the butter by kneading it with your hands. When it is soft, knead in the pieces of finely chopped wild garlic until everything is evenly distributed. Optionally, add some salt while kneading.
- Roll the butter into a cylindrical or round shape using cling film and store in the fridge for on a sandwich or toast. Enjoy!
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: the tastiest recipe for dandelion syrup (We think so).
- Also see: making elderflower lemonade and cocktails.
- Also see: badger garlic salt!
Photo credits: thegreenlist.nl & wilderlust.nl.
