sgt.porter
Marksman
Garlic mustard is another of my favorite flavors of the woods. Now considered an invasive weed, at one point garlic mustard was a cooking herb brought over from Europe.
Garlic mustard earns it's name from the flavor of the leaves. They taste like a mix of garlic and mustard, leaving an aftertaste that reminds you of summer sausage (and usually makes you want some).
Once you learn to identify garlic mustard, you'll realize that it grows anywhere and everywhere. It doesn't seem to be too picky about soil conditions, moisture, or amounts of sunlight. I prefer to pick mine in the woods, but you can look in ditches, fields, fence rows, abandon lots, around ponds, maybe even in your yard if it's not sprayed for weeds.
Garlic mustard is easy to identify by it's long stalk (reaching 5' in height by fall) with alternating jagged leaves, leading to a small head of white flowers. Rarely seen as an individual plant, it tends to grow in clusters and spreads faster than dandelions.
Pick a small leaf near the top, rub it with your fingers and smell it. If you get a bit of garlic smell, chew the leaf up for a minute. The taste will remind you of the spices in summer sausage.
Although the entire plant can be eaten by boiling or steaming just like other wild greens, I don't recommend it. By itself, garlic mustard tends to be too strong, and the flavor is much more pleasing when mixed with other wild greens.
I don't eat garlic mustard as a green very often, rather I use it as a spice or cooking herb. The jagged leaves close to the flower are not as bitter as the more mature leaves and are best to use for this purpose.
Garlic mustard retains most of it's flavor when dried, making it nice for year round use.
I have used garlic mustard in home made sausage, pasta sauce, and tossed into many wild and domestic dishes.
My favorite use, is to add garlic mustard to fresh fish. They go so well together that I believe this was natures intended purpose for the plant. Next time you're out fishing, look around, chances are that garlic mustard grows around your fishing spot, or at very least grows between your fishing spot and your campsite/car. Add the garlic mustard to your fried or baked fish and you'll know what I mean about it.
Garlic mustard earns it's name from the flavor of the leaves. They taste like a mix of garlic and mustard, leaving an aftertaste that reminds you of summer sausage (and usually makes you want some).
Once you learn to identify garlic mustard, you'll realize that it grows anywhere and everywhere. It doesn't seem to be too picky about soil conditions, moisture, or amounts of sunlight. I prefer to pick mine in the woods, but you can look in ditches, fields, fence rows, abandon lots, around ponds, maybe even in your yard if it's not sprayed for weeds.
Garlic mustard is easy to identify by it's long stalk (reaching 5' in height by fall) with alternating jagged leaves, leading to a small head of white flowers. Rarely seen as an individual plant, it tends to grow in clusters and spreads faster than dandelions.
Pick a small leaf near the top, rub it with your fingers and smell it. If you get a bit of garlic smell, chew the leaf up for a minute. The taste will remind you of the spices in summer sausage.
Although the entire plant can be eaten by boiling or steaming just like other wild greens, I don't recommend it. By itself, garlic mustard tends to be too strong, and the flavor is much more pleasing when mixed with other wild greens.
I don't eat garlic mustard as a green very often, rather I use it as a spice or cooking herb. The jagged leaves close to the flower are not as bitter as the more mature leaves and are best to use for this purpose.
Garlic mustard retains most of it's flavor when dried, making it nice for year round use.
I have used garlic mustard in home made sausage, pasta sauce, and tossed into many wild and domestic dishes.
My favorite use, is to add garlic mustard to fresh fish. They go so well together that I believe this was natures intended purpose for the plant. Next time you're out fishing, look around, chances are that garlic mustard grows around your fishing spot, or at very least grows between your fishing spot and your campsite/car. Add the garlic mustard to your fried or baked fish and you'll know what I mean about it.
