I consider ramps the messenger of Spring’s arrival, after all they are a member of the lilt family with their delicate green long leaf and elonganated bulb root. They are quite strong in taste and particularly pungent in odor comparable to the sharpness of leeks and the smell of garlic. However, they’re generally cooked which mellows them a bit. Personally I prefer them in egg recipes but they are a treat in soups, roasts and grilled fish too.
Ramps have a relatively short season; depending on the weather they are ready to be eaten from mid-April to mid-June and are grown from South Carolina to Canada.
I conserve them by pickling them with mustard seed spice and an interesting vinegar such as rice vinegar so I can enjoy them beyond their short season. I don’t recommend freezing ramps because their smell and flavor becomes too overbearingly strong once defrosted.
Ramps are an indicator to mushroom hunters when morel season starts as these higly prized (and priced) mushroom delicacies go hand in hand with ramps. Ramps are actually not cultivated which perhaps lends to their fleeting charm.
(ramp pizza with speck and baby herb salad)
When I buy ramps at the Green Market they’re usually speckled with soil. I simply soak them in a bowl filled with luke-warm water, though you might have to repeat this several times to get them free of all the dirt.
(ramp soup with sourdough crouton)
An Old Idea - a New Egg Dish
I particularly like this recipe because the strong ramp flavor becomes more mellowed with the long cooked egg, and the peppery flavor of cress complements ramps’creamy texture.
Egg-in-a-hole with Cress & Ramps
(recipe serves four)
8 large eggs
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 pinches cayenne
½ teaspoon roasted garlic puree (peel garlic & cook in vegetable oil until soft then puree)
2 bunches cress such as watercress
4 ramps
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
Sea salt such as Baline (to taste)
Fresh black pepper grindings (to taste)
1. Separate egg whites from yolks (keep egg whites for another use) then transfer yolks into a Zip-loc style bag (press air out of bag then close bag with zipper).
2. Cook egg yolks at 155 degrees Fahrenheit (2 hours) then put into an ice bath (heat oven to 155 F then put a pot filled with water in it – this way you can regulate the temperature of water - use an instant temperature reading thermomether to monitor temperature).
3. Put cooked egg yolks into a kitchen processor (cooked egg must be ice cold) then season with salt, cayenne and process cooked egg mixture (2-3 minutes). Add rice vinegar and roasted garlic puree to egg yolk mixture then process with blender (2-3 minutes).
4. Cut bottom stems from watercress.
5. In a bowl filled with luke-warm water dissolve powdered sugar then add cress. Soak cress (10 minutes or so) in sugar/water mixture. Dry cress in a salad spinner. Rinse ramps with water then cut (1/8-inch pieces).
Plating instructions: Toss cress and ramps in bowl then transfer to salad plates and spoon cooked egg mixture on top of it. Drizzle salad with vinaigrette (see below).
Chef’s Note: This salad pairs well with a simple mustard vinaigrette (oil, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper).
Chef’s Tip: Drizzle baguette-style sourdough bread with olive oil then bake in oven until golden in color then serve with salad.
(Heart of palm stuffed with ramp puree next to sunflower sprouts, radish and sharp tasting Manchego cheese)
(local striped bass with ramps, pea shoots and millet with pickled raisin sauce)
Did you know?
The National Ramp Association holds their yearly “Ramp Feed” festival in West Virginia and brings thousands of ramp afficionados together to sample various ramp dishes and to listen to some local country folklore.
After indulging in ramps, one question still arises: Is there any way to combat ramp breath? Nothing is entirely effective even biting on a wedge of lemon – so if you have an important date in the evening, the only foolproof tactic is - abstention.
