Masher
Wild Ramps (aka leeks) You Can Find Online
- by Laura, April 21, 2009
A bunch of wild ramps (aka the wild leek of the forest floor, beloved in Apalachia)
A few slices of bacon
Some potatoes cleaned ad sliced thin.
Salt and pepper.
Use your judgment and taste preference on all these qualities.
1. Wash the ramps, taking care to remove any grit or dirt. Pat dry and cut away the stem and white parts. Cut into two-inch pieces.
2. Fry bacon until crisp and fat is rendered. (If you’re worried about clogging the families arteries like I am, pour off most of the bacon fat so you’ve got the bare minimum you need for flavor then replace it when enough olive oil to fry your potatoes. If no member of your family has high cholesterol, then by all means skip this step and have fun frying your potatoes in bacon fat.) Remove bacon and set aside.
3. As if it isn’t obvious now, add your potatoes. Add some salt--a little or a lot. As you see here, I pulled down my iron skillet, which I hadn’t used for a long time. Gosh you forget what a beautiful job it does browning potatoes so quick and perfectly.
4. When potatoes are getting there, add ramps. Enjoy the fragrance as they soften. Add more salt as needed. And some pepper, too.
5. Cook this until potatoes are brown and ramps are soft and delicious. Now break up the bacon into bite size pieces and return to pan. Cook a little more. You’ll know when it’s done.
Last year, a friend gave me a bunch of wild ramps she’d gathered from the forest floor in Upstate New York State. This was my first encounter with the beautiful wild leek of Appalachia fame. You can click and read my post from back then, and find out all about the history of ramps and coalminers in West Virginia and their annual community ramp suppers, and folklorist Mary Hufford’s work with the people of Big Coal River Valley. A beautiful story.
But I’m writing about ramps again now because I’ve decided to hereby anoint them as the official Earth Day Dish of America if someone hasn’t already. There are many reasons for this. First of all, ramps have had their forests and land threatened by mining and development. But also, what could be a better Earth Day vegetable than a wild onion? A green creature of the forest. The first sign of spring and hope.
There’s about one week left to order farmed ramps directly from West Virginia, as the season runs through April there. Here’s a great source where you can buy as little as a one-pound bag. And no, they aren’t cheap. If you think it is not very “earth day” to use up fossil fuel to have them shipped here just to satisfy your gourmet fetish, well, the cool thing about the Ramp Farm in Richmond West, Virginia, is that they will also sell you seeds, so you can even try to grow them yourself if you have the right conditions: moist ground, filtered light---like a forest.
If you want WILD ramps, you can order them from D’artagnan, which is presently sourcing them from West Virginia. But will continue to follow the harvest as it moves northward through spring. These are sold only in “chef quantity"--a 5 pound bad--for a steep $94. I say find three friends to share them with. They stay well in the fridge for more than a week. Mine have lasted as long as two weeks.
Now, about that Appalachian style recipe up there. I just can’t give precise measurements for such a down to earth dish. I just cooked the things and enjoyed them.
Happy Earth Day.
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To find out about Laura's search for a long lost family recipe, click [
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