Have you ever been in a grocery store and came across an item that you had no idea what to do with? Well today hopefully I can cross one item off that list for you – the ramp or wild leek. So what is a ramp? It is from the onion family. It grows wild. When the snow melts, they are one of the first things to appear. They have green leaves on top, that turns into a pink stem and then into a bulb like a scallion. Tear a leaf and smell it and it will be similar to that smell of a leek. The bulb can add a flavor to your dish that is part onion and part garlic.
So we know what ramps are now, so what can you do with them? You can use them in many ways you would use an onion or garlic. I used my ramps to flavor a roasted chicken. I used the bulbs underneath the skin and then used the leaves to make a sauce for the chicken, so don’t just throw the leaves out, they can be used to up the flavor anty. I saw a recipe online that said you could use ramp leaves instead of a basil in a recipe for a pesto.
If you can get a hold of ramps (I bought mine at the Produce Station in Ann Arbor, MI), it’s best to use them as soon as you can. I keep mine in the fridge in a glass of water until I was ready to use them. So only buy a little, as they go bad quickly and a little goes a long way with ramps.
2 comments
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Issy says:
May 5, 2010 at 9:52 am (UTC -6)
How do you know when they go bad? The white bulbs of mine have turned pinkish. I just bought them 4 days ago.
admin says:
May 5, 2010 at 11:41 am (UTC -6)
Hmmm, I have not heard of that before. I never heard of them until about a month ago, so I am no expert. How do the leaves look? The leaves should appear nice and green, if they are wilting and dull, the ramps are probably no good.
Eat Like No One Else » Blog Archive » Roasted Chicken w/Ramps says:
April 29, 2010 at 8:45 am (UTC -6)
[...] (Produce Station). They are also called wild leeks and can add an onion/garlic flavor to a dish. Click here to read my post on what ramps are. Ramps go excellent with [...]