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Preparing
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Ramps
Allium tricoccum · Allium
40 pairings
Ramps (Allium tricoccum), also called wild leek, wood leek or ramson in American usage, are a wild spring onion of eastern North American woodlands, prized for a short, intense season each year. Each plant throws up one to three broad, smooth, lily-of-the-valley-like leaves of soft green above a slender, scallion-like white bulb whose stem is washed a deep burgundy-pink. The flavour is a pungent, garlicky-oniony punch — unmistakably allium, yet milder, sweeter and greener than garlic — that has made the ramp one of the most coveted and fiercely foraged plants of the Appalachian and northeastern spring.
Picking a good onedrag
Stiff green leaves, plump bulbYellow, limp, slippery neck
Market freshAnything: grilled whole, pickled, pesto, eggs.Everyday best
LeavesGreen, the leaf edges just curling
The bulbFirm, the sheath a little loose
Stem and root endPink stem duller, root end dried
Smell of a rubbed leafOnion comes up slowly, after some rubbing
What to look for, from stiff green leaves, plump bulb to yellow, limp, slippery neck.
What one gives you
96%
Usable yield
About 96%, the scallion refuse figure - only the rootlets and any loose outer sheath come off.
Keeping ittap a band
A domestic fridge holds it about 8× longer than the counter.
Humidity
95-100%
Near-saturated, 95-100%. The broad thin leaves are almost all surface and limp in dry fridge air within a day; wrap the bunch in damp paper inside the bag.
Airflow
Perforated bag, not sealed
Perforated, never sealed: shut tight and damp the necks and cut root ends turn slimy; open to dry fridge air the leaves go papery in a day.
Leaves yellow beside apples
Ramps make almost none themselves, but the leaves are the casualty: parked near apples, pears or bananas the green yellows and drops well before the bulbs give out.