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Wales, United Kingdom
Documenting one couple's attempts to live a more self-sufficient life.

Friday 12 April 2013

Foraged Food Friday: Garlic mustard

A friend recommended this plant to me last spring, and in May I found a plant in my garden that looked very much like the picture in my book...


Looking similar

... but the leaves didn't taste of anything very much.

The other day I noticed these plants coming up again...


Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), also called Jack-by-the-hedge

... and tasted a leaf (note: This method of plant identification is not recommended). This time I could taste both garlic and mustard quite distinctly, though neither was very strong. I wonder if the older plant I tried last year was just so much milder that I couldn't detect the distinctive flavours.

Having positively identified the plant, I picked a handful of leaves yesterday and added them to leftover soup (the leftovers being mostly mashed potato and gravy) along with nettles, celandine and a little ground elder, just because there's so much of it around at the moment. The soup was nice, though I can't say I particularly tasted garlic and mustard, but then if I'd added those two spices separately, I wouldn't expect the flavours to stand out in a soup like that.

I think this one's a useful herb.


Also harvesting this week:
Nettles
Celandine
Ground elder
Leek (just one, so small that I previously mistook it for grass)

Also drinking this week:
Blackberry wine

Foraged food challenge summary page here.

3 comments:

  1. I think I saw a G. Mustard (I call them Jack by the Hedge) coming up recently but I have another plant which is quite similar so I usually wait until I see a load of the plants all starting to leaf up until I know for sure. I'm 50/50 on whether I like this one. I like the garlicy taste but not the bitterness. But I do chuck a few leaves in a salad sometimes. And by the way I did look at your nettle post but do you know I have still never, ever tried nettles? I'm too much of a wuss. lol
    See you found another leek to stave off your hunger ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm thinking of trying this in mayonnaise - Delia's recipe, at least, includes both garlic and mustard, so this might work well.

      You really should try nettles. Not that they're a great delicacy or anything, but they're so abundant! You can always poke the cooked leaves with a finger to prove they're not going to sting you (and when you see them well cooked, I don't think you'll even be worried any more).

      Delete
  2. Jack by the Hedge is taking over my garden, but it's a good food plant for Orange Tip butterflies, so I feel I'm helping them a bit, and anyway I weed it out by eating it.

    I find the flavour doesn't survive heating all that well, so I tend to use a few leaves in salads and sandwiches. It makes a reasonably garlicky pesto, though it can be quite bitter, so mixing it with another green is probably a good idea, or use in in something with a definite flavour/creaminess like soft cheese rather than something as bland a pasta.
    I tried ground almonds this time as it's what I had, but it had a slightly marzipan flavour which was a bit peculiar!
    I made pasta pesto with it, which didn't all get eaten, so I recycled it as a frittata, with a bit of mint and a few chives for good measure and that was much more successful, as was adding it to (broad bean)humus or cream cheese wraps.

    ReplyDelete

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