We have had a lovely time in recent weeks at Brackloon Castle foraging wild garlic to make pesto. Picking the garlic leaves with the help of our niece Mairead and learning to make the pesto was an ideal outdoor activity during lock-down, and so enjoyable we plan to keep it up in future years.
My first introduction to wild garlic was around 2007 with my good friend Katharina Walter, who was living at the Long Walk in Galway city. Katharina is a wonderful cook and we spent lots of happy evenings there. I remember very clearly tasting the wild garlic pesto that my Austrian friend had made and finding it full of distinctive garlic flavour, but without some of the pungency of ordinary garlic. This year seemed like the perfect time to try making it ourselves.
The best time to start foraging for wild garlic is in April and early May. The season ends in the later weeks of May as the flowers begin to appear and the leaves become more bitter. Wild garlic is often found in more shaded, woodland areas. The leaves are fresh and vibrant green, and are easily identifiable; being long and thin with a single vein and a pointed tip. When crushed the leaves exude a distinctive garlic scent. As with any foraged food, it is important to know what you are picking. Very generous advice was given by the Wild Food Ireland Facebook group, who cautioned against picking ‘Lords and Ladies’ (also known as Cuckoo-Pint and Starchwort); as this often grows close to wild garlic and is extremely poisonous. For this reason, it’s a good idea to pick the wild garlic leaves individually, rather than in handfuls, to ensure that there isn’t a stray leaf of ‘Lords and Ladies’ hiding in a bunch of garlic leaves.
Having gathered the leaves and avoided any unwelcome additions (!) we gave them a good wash. Taking our cue from a range of recipes, we blended 150g of wild garlic leaves together with 80g of pine nuts which we toasted. We added 50g of Parmesan cheese, the juice of half a lemon; 120mls of olive oil and a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper.
The result was better than we had hoped and we were delighted to be able to share with friends and family. The pesto keeps in the fridge for at least a week, and we are now enjoying the store that we squirreled away in the freezer – including in small portions saved in ice cube trays – which are perfect for using with fish, chicken or pasta.
The use of garlic for medicinal purposes stretches further than recorded history, and has been identified in the Egyptian pyramids, ancient Greek temples and in societies far removed geographically and culturally over many thousands of years. Each of these cultures independently found medicinal uses for garlic for a wide variety of ailments and infections. Author Niall Mac Coitir describes the value historically placed on wild garlic in this country. In his beautiful book 'Ireland's Wild Plants; Myths, Legends and Folklore'; he describes penalties imposed under Brehon law for removing wild garlic from private property without permission. However, if the plant was being gathered to treat a person who was ill, the penalty of two and a half milch cows could be avoided.
Modern science has confirmed what ancient cultures and traditional healers had found through experimentation and observation; garlic contains an active compound called ‘allicin’ which fights viruses, bacteria and fungi, and some studies have demonstrated further benefits including heart health and anti-cancer properties.
As we sit and enjoy the benefits of wild garlic in the kitchen here at Brackloon, it is nice to think that there are likely to have been people living in this home down the centuries who understood and enjoyed this beneficial wild food source long before us.
Alison
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