Back when I lived in Palo Alto, spring farmer's markets were pungent. Our farmers came in from Watsonville (awesome strawberries) and Gilroy (garlic capital of the world). You could smell that garlic blocks away! Spring garlic is a younger garlic with a milder flavor. I typically use it in recipes where the rest of the year I would use scallions, shallots, or green onions, to shift the flavor in a slightly different direction…one that always signifies spring.
If you are a gardener, growing your own spring garlic is easy. Simply plant your garlic very close together, and harvest as a way to thin them out, letting the rest mature into the more popular mature garlic.
We've been getting spring garlic in our shares for a few months now. Our first garlic almost looked like green onions, but last week's batch started to show the beginnings of cloves in the buds. Aren't they beautiful?
I decided to use a couple of them to make my new favorite salad topping, spring garlic crispies.
I was getting ready to saute some kale which I would scramble eggs. I heated up the olive oil and threw in a minced head of spring garlic. Only instead of just barely browning them, and leaving them in the oil to cook with the kale, I fried them to a crisp and removed them.
Then I sprinkled some on top of the finished eggs and kale. The kale was cooked in garlic-flavored olive oil, and topped with more garlic. And was it ever tasty!
These little crispies are the greatest addition to salads, sandwiches, cooked vegetables…give it a try! I have become fond of whole wheat toast with slices of roasted beets, sprinkled with goat cheese, and topped with garlic crunchies. Try it!
Definitely my new spring flavor!
Spring garlic is most typically found at farmer's markets or small grocers. Look for it…or mark your garden calendar with a reminder to plant your own next year.
