Wild Garlic can be found in most forest areas so there is probably some growing less than a few miles from where you are right now. It can be picked from March till around June time and can be used in so many dishes its a lot of fun to get creative with. Here I’ve simply done a Hake starter, small cubes of hake pan fried for a crispy skin and then roasted with butter and lemon juice, with wild garlic puree and tempura wild garlic flowers. Very simple dish but a very tasty one too.
Tempura flowers
Ingredients:
- 80g flour
- 100ml soda water
- 1tsp salt
- 1tsp pepper
Method:
- Beat everything together in a bowl until you make a smooth batter.
- Cut the flower down leaving about 10 cm of stem so you have something to hold on to when frying.
- Dip the flower head in the batter by holding the stem and then spin the flower head to get rid of excess batter.
- Hold the flowers in hot oil or a fryer at 180 degrees Celsius. Hold by the stem and keep in oil for about a minute and then leave on a tray lined with some paper towel to drain the oil
- Sprinkle with a pinch of salt to season
Wild garlic purée:
Ingredients:
- 80g wild garlic
- 2tbsp olive oil
- 1tsp sherry vinegar
- 5g salt
- 2tbs water
Method:
- Blanche the garlic leaves in boiling water very quickly, they only need about 10 seconds then chill then again in ice cold water
- Blitz leaves and all other ingredients until smooth
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