The Great Scape

Garlic is pretty cool.  

Why?   

4 reasons:  

1. Green Garlic (Young Garlic)  

2. Garlic Scapes  

3. Garlic bulbs  

4. Cause it’s friggin’ great!  

Christmas came early today. Laura, from Farm Girl Farm (one of the farmers we deal with a lot), just dropped off a  

Garlic with a scape.

 case of Garlic Scapes. Scapes, much like ramps, fiddlehead ferns and morels, are a fleeting specialty of spring. If you have ever poked around a farmers market in the spring, you may have noticed these spiralled green whips. Right now, the scapes are at their best: young, tender and sweet. In the coming weeks the garlic will become  fibrous and woody, still edible, but requiring more work to prepare. 

How do you grow garlic?  

You plant a clove of garlic before the first hard frost of the fall. When the snow just starts to melt, the garlic stem will shoot right up. You can harvest some of these “stems” at this point and use them like you would a baby leek, this is what we can “green garlic”. The aroma of green garlic is very strong, though the flavor is quite mild, I recommend adding to the dishes at the very last second. After about 6 weeks, a flower will begin to grow out of the stem; this is the scape. A few weeks more, the garlic will have formed into bulbs, ready to hang and dry.  

What exactly is a “scape”?  

A scape is simply the flower of the garlic plant. After time, before it flowers, you will want to break the scape off to ensure all the energy goes to the growth of the garlic bulb.  

When the scape is young, you can do lots of stuff with it. Many people prefer to make pesto with it, super easy and super tasty. Blend a good handful of scapes  in a food processor with parmesan, salt, pepper and olive oil. Toss with some pasta and chow down. Another way that’s nice is to cut the scapes in about 1 1/2 inch pieces, blanch in salted, boiling water for about 2 mins and treat them like you would green beans; creamy, sweet and a touch garlicky. Roasted, that are divine  and are great in stir fry.  When they hit their teenage years (in a few weeks), they are even better grilled and topped on a juicy burger, especially a lamb burger…mmmm.  

Scapes and garlic field

Bigger, woodier scapes fear not; you too still have a purpose. Larger scapes can be used for making deliciously creamy soups, and are still great for grilling. Additionally, scapes provide an interesting accent in flower arrangements. Finally, garlic also gives you the unique ability to uncover your true friends, the gift is called garlic breathe.  

So how about that? 3 great culinary things you can get out of one vegetable. Just remember, anything that goes great with garlic (which is just about everything!), goes great with scapes. Get em’ while they last!  

Garlic Scape in Bloom.