Garlic ScapesThe Elegant Loop above the Bulb

BY MORRIS LEMIRE

For thousands of years garlic was foraged both for its medicinal properties and as a culinary delight. Understandably, much has been written about the plant and a good deal of it, utter nonsense. No, it doesn’t scare off vampires. Although along the same vein, a New York joke (c.1905) around the time the subway was being built went like this: “A nickel will get you on the subway, but garlic will get you a seat.”

For a crop that is such a star, very little is written about the green portions above ground – the leaves and scapes. Many don’t know that all parts of the plant are edible, and there are good reasons for this. Grocery stores don’t carry the green bits, in part because they require hand harvesting - which is expensive, and once cut they need care. Contrast this with the main event, the bulb. The garlic bulb is harvested by machine. It is easy to package and ship, and it stores very well for up to a full year.

Many years ago, before global food distribution and modern medicine, when people lived with the land, the first greens of spring were anxiously awaited, not just for fresh food, but also to prevent scurvy. Basically, an affliction resulting from a deficiency of Vitamin C, scurvy was a late winter disease in the northern hemisphere that persisted among the poor, well into the early 1900s. Over the years, folks learned the importance of the first greens of spring, like chives, dandelions, and especially garlic leaves and scapes. The bulb came months later.

There are two main types of garlic: hardneck and softneck. Grocery store garlic is predominately softneck, a mono crop, mass produced for the international market.

The advantage of softneck’s year round availability is offset by reduced nutritional value, compromised flavour, and a complete lack of varietal choice.

The advantages of the hardnecks are the exact opposite: a wider range of varieties, like the Rocomboles, that offer more flavour profiles and greater culinary interest, including the very tasty, beautiful scape. Keeping it simple, the scape is part of the stalk that supports the flower head. When young, it twists and turns, forming an elegant loop before straightening up and shooting for the sky. Cunningly, only hardneck garlic grows a scape.

Hardneck garlic, genetically closer to wild garlic, is preferred by gardeners and small farmers who supply our local farmers markets. If you don’t have access to a garden, check out your local farmers’ market. But keep in mind that garlic scapes are available in Alberta from about mid-June, until the third week of July, depending on where you live. Don’t be shy to phone around and ask who provides scapes, and when they are available.

Have you ever given any thought to growing your own garlic? Now is a good time to start. Any sunny corner of your yard will do. All you need is good seeding stock, which you can get from Apache Seeds in Edmonton, or The Botanist in Calgary. Three bulbs are selling for $20. If you buy just three hardneck garlic bulbs at a farmers’ market, each bulb will have seven to eight cloves, giving you about 24 cloves total. Every clove, when planted, will produce a new bulb, each with a scape. That will give you enough scapes to make the recipe below.

In Alberta, garlic is usually planted in the fall, but you can plant in the spring. Tip: mimic mother-nature by putting your bulbs in a cold fridge for a week or so. Once planted, they will come up a little later than usual, but you’ll still have better stock than you can buy at the grocers.

And yes, garlic can be grown in a pot, so if you are an apartment dweller you can experiment with different varieties and try both the leaf and the scape. Modern research has shown that cutting just one leaf off the garlic plant reduces bulb size by 17 percent. Little wonder that commercial growers seldom, if ever, offer the leaf. Ironically, cutting the scape has the opposite effect. The energy that would have grown the scape, now goes directly to the bulb, resulting in more garlic. In response to the science on leaf cutting, a gardening friend says, “just plant more garlic”.

Garlic scapes can be used in just about every way the onion family allows. They are particularly flavourful in stir-fries. With a quick sauté, they work in a risotto, or as a garnish in soup. If you use them in an omelette, softly crush them with a spoon and sauté with whatever other flavours you are using, mushrooms perhaps.

Our recipe here is for pesto, where it offers a mild garlic flavour with a grassy hint of asparagus; absolutely lovely on a vegetarian pizza. Experiment and have fun!

Garlic Scape Pesto

Makes about 2 cups

450 g garlic scapes, roughly chopped

½ cup pine nuts

¾ cup grated Romano or Parmesan cheese

1 cup (250 mL) extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)

1 Tbs (15 mL) fresh lemon juice

¼ tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

To taste salt and ground pepper

1. Put the chopped scapes, pine nuts and cheese into a food processor, and pulse for several seconds.

2. With the food processor running, slowly pour the EVOO into the above mix. Tip: Use a good oil from a designated area. Look for DOC on the label.

3. Transfer the pesto to a bowl and stir in the fresh lemon juice, red pepper flakes (if using), and the salt and ground black pepper.

4. To keep long term, freeze in ice-cube trays. Silicon trays make it easier to pop the pesto cube out. Once frozen, transfer to a sealed plastic bag. Your pesto will keep well into the winter.