Ramps are a wild plant found growing in the Appalachian mountains in the southeastern US. It is part of the wild onion family and has a strong onion-garlic odor. Having grown up in the New York City area I never heard about them until I moved to Tennessee but never had a chance to taste them until this year. A friend of mine, who grew up in a tiny town here in WV, said that people literally stank because of the oils processing in the bodies from the ramps eaten. So if you are able to get them, use them in smaller, not larger, qualtities in your recipes.
I remember my family picking what were considered weeds to toss into salads for a nice tart taste. I looked up the name one time, but can’t remember it these days. Lots of edible stuff out there if we’d tune back into things found outside the supermarket aisles.
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What are “ramps”? are they edible and if so what are they like and how do you cook them?
Ramps are a wild plant found growing in the Appalachian mountains in the southeastern US. It is part of the wild onion family and has a strong onion-garlic odor. Having grown up in the New York City area I never heard about them until I moved to Tennessee but never had a chance to taste them until this year. A friend of mine, who grew up in a tiny town here in WV, said that people literally stank because of the oils processing in the bodies from the ramps eaten. So if you are able to get them, use them in smaller, not larger, qualtities in your recipes.
Haha… I had visions of highway ramps! Thanks for introducing these. I’d never heard of them either.
So much diversity in the world’s food basket!
I remember my family picking what were considered weeds to toss into salads for a nice tart taste. I looked up the name one time, but can’t remember it these days. Lots of edible stuff out there if we’d tune back into things found outside the supermarket aisles.
That’s awesome! I love ’em!