Wild garlic (Allium ursinum)

• 20 May, 2009
• 6 likes

Edible Uses
Flowers; Leaves; Root.
Leaves - raw or cooked this plant sually available from late January. It is said that they have an overpowering garlic odour that dissipates with cooking, though they are considerably milder than common garlic. The leaves make a very nice addition to salads, and are especially welcome as a vital and fresh green leaf in the middle of winter.
Flowers can be eatenraw or cooked. These are somewhat stronger than the leaves, in small quantities they make a decorative and very tasty addition to salads. The flowering heads can still be eaten as the seed pods are forming, though the flavour gets even stronger as the grow older and the seeds ripen.
The bulb again can be eaten raw or cooked. A fairly strong garlic flavour, although they aresmall and can be fiddly to gather. The bulbs can be harvested at any time the plant is dormant from early summer to early winter. If harvested in early summer, they can be stored for at least 6 months. The bulbs can reach 4cm long and 1cm in diameter.

The small green bulbils are used as a caper substitute.