You come home from the forest, have diligently collected wild garlic, made pesto with it - and then the fine wild garlic puree tastes grassy. How annoying! So that this doesn't happen again, you will find help in this article on how to avoid preparation errors.
Why does wild garlic taste grassy?
If the freshly prepared wild garlic tastes grassy, it can havevarious reasons: Either you havenot collected wild garlic, you have theleaves picked too lateor finallyprepared wrongIn particular, thepureeing and mixing in the food processor results in a loss of flavor for the herb.
Can we still save the grassy-tasting wild garlic?
Grassy-tasting wild garlic or pesto made from it cannot be savedwith any tricksIf the wild garlic puree is freshly made, you can leave it for a few daysand Let it steepWith a bit of luck it will still take on the right garlic flavor. If this is not the case, you shouldbetter dispose of everything! After all, you can't be 100 percent sure afterwards that you really used wild garlic - lily of the valley leaves have even been found in supermarket wild garlic. By the way, you can recognize these - like the leaves of the autumn crocus - by their bitter aroma.
What can you do to prevent wild garlic from tasting grassy?
Very often wild garlic pesto tastes grassy if you puree itfor too long and at too high a setting. Therefore, the loss of taste can be avoided by using wild garlic leaves
- cut by hand with a sharp knife
- just short and
- puree on a low level or chop in a blender
You should alsoavoid using olive oilas this makes the leaves bitter. Instead, use aflavorless vegetable oil, for example sunflower or rapeseed oil are very suitable. Aromatic ingredients such as parmesan and roasted pine nuts also mask the wild garlic aroma and should therefore not be used. Many a cook also swears byblanching wild garlic leaves before using them
When should you stop eating wild garlic?
Even if the wild garlic leaves are too old, they can taste grassy. The leaves lose their typical aroma, which is reminiscent of garlic, if you pick them after the flowering period has begun. Then they lose their aromatic substances, which then migrate to the flower. Nowflowering wild garlicdoesn't immediately become poisonous, in fact you can even use the flowers, but the leaves no longer taste good and over time even becomehard and fibrousNow the wild garlic season is over and you have to look for an alternative.
Tip
Why does wild garlic pesto turn sour?
The wild garlic pesto doesn't taste grassy after opening the jar, but does it taste sour or rancid? Then unfortunately air gets into it and you have to throw it away. Make sure that there is always enough oil on the opened wild garlic paste - this way it is protected from air and cannot oxidize.
