My memories are as vague as yours and I remember some of those same details. The mushrooms I do remember had a thin stem and a small cap resembling a birdcage umbrella. They were white and quite delicate looking with a taste just as delicate!
Thanks for clarifying! Yes, I meant the North American ramps (Allium tricoccum), which we don't really have in Europe.
The reason I asked is that in Britain and parts of Europe, people sometimes use "wild garlic" (Allium ursinum) in a somewhat similar seasonal way, although botanically it's quite different. Here in southern Germany and Switzerland, for example, wild garlic (Bärlauch) season inspires almost the same enthusiasm that ramps seem to generate in North America. Where i live, you can actually smelll it wafting from the forrest nearby.
It's one of those fascinating cases where different regions develop their own spring rituals around closely related plants. Now you've made me curious enough to read more about ramps and their place in North American food culture.
We buy our foraged morel and porcini from a lovely elderly gentleman at the farmers market at Portland State University whose English is enough to make us feel welcome.
We keep an eye on price, then cook as often as we can before I dehydrate the remainder. Glorious porcini risotto.
A quick spin in the spice grinder in only an amount for a particular dish, and the porcini works its magical mystery.
Like the best of the nonnas...love to see you out there with boots on the ground! Wild fennel, mallow, borage, wild leeks, mustard greens…oh, my! You transported me right back to the breadbasket with your beautiful prose
A perfect read this morning, Elizabeth! What an experience! I’ve looked at Ballymaloe, but “Cook the Farm” was new to me. Thank you for sharing! The morels, ramps, and woodland violets are out now in my neck of the woods ❤️🌱
One question: am I right in understanding that the base recipe uses scallions/spring onions, while the “wild leek” variation refers to ramps in the North American sense rather than true leeks? The terminology around ramps fascinates/confuses me a little depending on the country. 😄
Elizabeth, I loved this. The contrast of foraging for wild mushrooms against the industrial landscape of Windsor felt incredibly vivid and moving. It carried this quiet feeling of memory, migration, and holding onto food traditions wherever we land.
Food really does become a way of understanding place, history, and ourselves.
Love your picture, you almost take us with you on you experiences. Love it.
Also now I desperately want a thick slice of that spring onion loaf warm with butter.
Thank you dear Harshita! You understand well the power of writing about food and memory through your own beautiful pieces. I appreciate your readership 💕
What a lovely post Elizabeth! I am not much of a forager, aside from blackberry picking. But perhaps I shall be brave enough to give it a go! Also, love your lumberjack shirt and dungarees combo. A fantastic foraging outfit and lovely photo of you!
Ha ha! I still have that “outfit” and love it 😊. Marjan shared the name of a forager in the UK—Liz Knight of Forage Fine Foods @foragefinefoods on Insta.
Wow, nine years since the trip to Sicily already ! Where does the time go?
Barb's brother tells the story of bombing through the Essex countryside as a kid with their uncle at the wheel. He suddenly screeched the car to a halt on the gravel shoulder and took off for the ditch beside. Wild asparagus! The best, he still says, he's ever tasted - and free!
10 week farm to table intensive? Porcini foraging? Ramp bread? Yes to all the above. What incredible times you’ve experienced! Thank you for sharing these delicious stories, Elizabeth!
Thank you Aki! I know how fortunate I’ve been to have some amazing adventures and to know many people who love food as much as I do. It gives me great joy to share some of those stories here. And it’s why I love this Substack community of kindred spirits so 💕
Ah, I'd love to go foraging. When I was tea farming last year in Japan, I became extremely interested in wild mugwort, which is supposed to have medicinal properties. It was everywhere! And then when I came back to the US, I noticed it all around, too. Such a beautiful thing. I'm particularly enchanted by the picture you paint of sauteed porcinis and crusty bread that your cousin prepared. I am salivating just thinking about it!
I don’t know mugwort, but I’m guessing that it’s all around me too 😊
It’s funny, isn’t it? Apparently nettle can easily be found here, as a well as wild fennel, which I first encountered in Sicily. I think I need to find a local expert to go for long walks with!
My memories are as vague as yours and I remember some of those same details. The mushrooms I do remember had a thin stem and a small cap resembling a birdcage umbrella. They were white and quite delicate looking with a taste just as delicate!
Oh, I can't wait to try this bread and I would love to have store of foraged goods to shop at❤️
Another beautiful written piece.
Such beautiful memories and photos of Sicily (the dreamy programme) and foraging. That pic of you in full gear is epic!
Ramps (or wild leeks) are long gone here and I didn't freeze any so I'll wait until next year to try your pie.
I loved going to Forbes Wild Foods and getting myself a weekly treat of something foraged.
Shout-out to Giacomo because porcini are delicious and I'd very much enjoy the meal he cooked for you.
You’re back! I’ve missed you, my friend. I hope you had a magical time in Puglia—can’t wait to hear all about it 💕
So magical that the return is harder than usual. (Or do I say that every time I return from seeing people I love?) 💕
Thanks for clarifying! Yes, I meant the North American ramps (Allium tricoccum), which we don't really have in Europe.
The reason I asked is that in Britain and parts of Europe, people sometimes use "wild garlic" (Allium ursinum) in a somewhat similar seasonal way, although botanically it's quite different. Here in southern Germany and Switzerland, for example, wild garlic (Bärlauch) season inspires almost the same enthusiasm that ramps seem to generate in North America. Where i live, you can actually smelll it wafting from the forrest nearby.
It's one of those fascinating cases where different regions develop their own spring rituals around closely related plants. Now you've made me curious enough to read more about ramps and their place in North American food culture.
We buy our foraged morel and porcini from a lovely elderly gentleman at the farmers market at Portland State University whose English is enough to make us feel welcome.
We keep an eye on price, then cook as often as we can before I dehydrate the remainder. Glorious porcini risotto.
A quick spin in the spice grinder in only an amount for a particular dish, and the porcini works its magical mystery.
Like the best of the nonnas...love to see you out there with boots on the ground! Wild fennel, mallow, borage, wild leeks, mustard greens…oh, my! You transported me right back to the breadbasket with your beautiful prose
It was a magical time!
Foraging in Sicily sounds like a dream! And the spring onion loaf looks pretty wonderful as well.
It was! I fell in love with everything about Sicily 💕
A perfect read this morning, Elizabeth! What an experience! I’ve looked at Ballymaloe, but “Cook the Farm” was new to me. Thank you for sharing! The morels, ramps, and woodland violets are out now in my neck of the woods ❤️🌱
Thanks so much Michelle! The program has evolved over time and is really worth checking out.
How lucky you are to live in such a beautiful part of nature! I hope you are loving your new home and have settled in for a glorious summer ahead.
I absolutely will check it out. It’s very much in alignment. Thank you - June will be our month! ❤️🌱
I love your picture with the foraging bounty is your basket. You look so carefree & in love with life. Lovely piece.
Thank you dear Annu. The experience was very special in so many ways. A time I will always treasure.
Beautiful piece.
One question: am I right in understanding that the base recipe uses scallions/spring onions, while the “wild leek” variation refers to ramps in the North American sense rather than true leeks? The terminology around ramps fascinates/confuses me a little depending on the country. 😄
Thanks for reading Elli!
Yes, ramps in the North American sense, not traditional leeks. Do ramps refer to something different elsewhere? I will have to dig into that.
Elizabeth, I loved this. The contrast of foraging for wild mushrooms against the industrial landscape of Windsor felt incredibly vivid and moving. It carried this quiet feeling of memory, migration, and holding onto food traditions wherever we land.
Food really does become a way of understanding place, history, and ourselves.
Love your picture, you almost take us with you on you experiences. Love it.
Also now I desperately want a thick slice of that spring onion loaf warm with butter.
Thank you dear Harshita! You understand well the power of writing about food and memory through your own beautiful pieces. I appreciate your readership 💕
What a lovely post Elizabeth! I am not much of a forager, aside from blackberry picking. But perhaps I shall be brave enough to give it a go! Also, love your lumberjack shirt and dungarees combo. A fantastic foraging outfit and lovely photo of you!
Ha ha! I still have that “outfit” and love it 😊. Marjan shared the name of a forager in the UK—Liz Knight of Forage Fine Foods @foragefinefoods on Insta.
Ah thank you, I shall find her.
Wow, nine years since the trip to Sicily already ! Where does the time go?
Barb's brother tells the story of bombing through the Essex countryside as a kid with their uncle at the wheel. He suddenly screeched the car to a halt on the gravel shoulder and took off for the ditch beside. Wild asparagus! The best, he still says, he's ever tasted - and free!
Right?? It both feels like a lifetime ago amd just yesterday.
Wild asparagus sounds wonderful!
10 week farm to table intensive? Porcini foraging? Ramp bread? Yes to all the above. What incredible times you’ve experienced! Thank you for sharing these delicious stories, Elizabeth!
Thank you Aki! I know how fortunate I’ve been to have some amazing adventures and to know many people who love food as much as I do. It gives me great joy to share some of those stories here. And it’s why I love this Substack community of kindred spirits so 💕
Ah, I'd love to go foraging. When I was tea farming last year in Japan, I became extremely interested in wild mugwort, which is supposed to have medicinal properties. It was everywhere! And then when I came back to the US, I noticed it all around, too. Such a beautiful thing. I'm particularly enchanted by the picture you paint of sauteed porcinis and crusty bread that your cousin prepared. I am salivating just thinking about it!
I don’t know mugwort, but I’m guessing that it’s all around me too 😊
It’s funny, isn’t it? Apparently nettle can easily be found here, as a well as wild fennel, which I first encountered in Sicily. I think I need to find a local expert to go for long walks with!
Lovely post - this has reminded me of my childhood and my father forging mushrooms every spring just outside of Windsor in his “secret woods”.
I wonder if he and my mother ever ran into each other!