Foraging for Ramps

April 11, 2009 - Like morels or fiddleheads, ramps are one of those spring time treats that you can't get from your garden. Though they come from the wild and you don't have to spend time growing them, they don't exactly come free - ramps like very specific wooded habitats and in order to experience this delicious wild onion, you must spend a bit of time foraging for them in the woods (or know someone who will do this for you of course).

The golden rule of foraged foods is that you never give away a good location. So I, naturally, am not at liberty to discuss how exactly Joe and I came to enjoy our first taste of ramps this spring. But I can tell you that we have been hearing about the heavenly vegetable for a few years now and have been quite intrigued - it's taste is similar to a leek, but also a bit like garlic - totally up our alley. So this year we decided not to put it off any longer. We got some tips as to what woods we might try and we had incredible luck.

When we set out, we didn't even know what we were looking for. The good thing about this time of year though, is that there isn't much green on the forest floor. We also knew that the ramp would give itself away with it's very oniony smell. So we walked around tearing off leaves of plants and sniffing everything. After a while, we finally found what we were looking for -

It fit all descriptions we'd heard and it smelled soooo good. But it was just this one all by itself. We hoped they weren't going to be that few and far between, (that would have made for a REALLY long day) and kept looking. Next we found a small patch, and we started to get excited. Then we found a bigger patch, and we were officially in heaven -

We dug up a small bag of ramps (we hadn't even tasted them yet, so we didn't want to be greedy) and headed home. We called a friend of ours to find out how to cook them, and she said to just clean them and then saute the whole plant with butter. Joe immediately heated up a pan and cooked them up.

They. Are. Delicious.

I mean, seriously, I don't know how we were enjoying life without them. They're tender, flavorful, and most importantly, they're the first fresh green we were eating since last fall! It's not like an onion where you only eat the bulb. You eat the leaves of the ramps, so it can really stand as a vegetable all on its own. YUM.

It was supper time and we couldn't very well eat JUST ramps for supper. So we cooked chicken, and then just before it was done, threw a pile of ramps on the top and let them steam -
The next morning Joe made an amazing breakfast of eggs, ramps, onion grass, and peppers. Now if this doesn't make you want to cook, I don't know what will -

Now. Here's what you need to know. Ramps grow in the woods, relatively near a source of water. As you can see, the leaves look like lily of the valley, which is POISONOUS - so make sure you smell before you dig. If they smell like onions, you're good. The stems have a bit of red just above the bulb. The leaves begin to pop up just after the snow disappears for the season. Apparently you can harvest them for the next couple of weeks. Obviously, you do not want to take a whole patch, or else they won't have a chance to seed. And the last thing you want is for them to be gone the next year. So don't be greedy. And I have to say, this being my first foraging experience - eating the ramps wasn't the only reward - it was strangely satisfying to hunt through the woods with Joe, eyes on the ground. The elation that comes from the first spotting is amazing and it was just an all around great way to spend time together. And it was free. :)