BFE FOOD AND WINE
RAMPS
So what exactly IS a "ramp"? Put simply it's a wild leek. Ramps are far smaller than the leeks we see in the store consisting of a bulb ranging from downright tiny to just short of the size of a marble, a stem section perhaps 2 inches long and 2 flat leaves 6 to 8 inches long on average and a bit under an inch wide.
Ramps are notoriously difficult to cultivate and thus far have eluded attempts to do so at a commercially viable level. So where does one get them? The time honored tradition of foraging. They like wet sandy loam soil generally found along the banks of small streams and creeks in forested Appalachian valleys. Ramps are EXTREMELY seasonal and very perishable. The prime season is in the springtime before the canopy of the trees really leafs out starving them for light. They do need it a bit shady so the naked trees before full blown summer provide just enough protection from direct sunlight. Once the leaves on the trees bud out and spread the ramps will get yellowish and start dying back but continue to grow to maturity and seed out. The seeds will replenish the ramp field as well as the bulbs regrowing and spreading.
A field of ramps
Locating a ramp field can be tricky and often requires blind dumb luck. They do grow in small clumps and in onesies and twoisies around the Appalachian forests for those with the time to hunt for them like mushrooms but the real objective is to locate large fields of them for efficient foraging. Foragers tend to be secretive to protect their found ramp fields the same as foragers of mushrooms, especially morels. Over-foraging can be a substantial problem for ramp foragers in many areas. Any place they grow well that is easily accessible will tend to be over-foraged so foragers need to plan to get off the beaten path and do some hiking. One must also be prepared to haul the "take" on one's back from such remote areas if any quantity is desired. This intensity of labor combined with the special knowledge (and luck) required to find them is a major reason ramps can be sold to urban chefs for prices exceeding $15 per pound.
A bunch of ramps uprooted
Once you've located ramps the next step is getting them out of the ground without damaging them. We use a military entrenching tool (a folding shovel). Lock it into the fully open position like a conventional shovel. Place the tip of the blade a few inches from the individual ramp or preferably clump of ramps and push it straight down into the ground deep enough to extend below the depth of the bulbs and lever up the ramps to loosen them. With the clump of soil loosened use your hands to wiggle the ramps free of the dirt. If the soil is loose and sandy enough they may root as much as 8 inches deep and their roots will be tangled together so it will take a little effort to extricate them intact.
OK, so WHY go to all that trouble? WELL! I'll tell you. These little beauties have an absolutely unique flavor that you just can't experience any other way (Unless you are fortunate enough to have access to a professional forager (yes, there are folks in Appalachia who eek out a living by foraging the meager bounty of this infertile hill country, or chef with access to one, and want to "pay the toll" to try them). If you're only option is to throw money at it, START THROWING! Compared to standard leeks, ramps are EXTREMELY pungent being more like a scallion (aka green onion or spring onion) for culinary purposes. Of course they taste nothing like a scallion. I suppose I can say they taste something like a scallion crossed with a leek with the scallion's freshness and the intensity of garlic. Sadly most recipes I've found on line try to downplay the ramp's more pungent characteristics by seeking to moderate this aspect of the flavor. Indeed, many recipes center solely on sauteeing only the ramp bulb and dressing it with an acidic finish like balsamic vinegar negating it's true nature. Other recipes may use the whole ramp only to dilute it by finely chopping it up and making it play "flavor agent" to a pile of scrambled eggs. Both options, while definitely tasty, seem short sighted to me and also give the poor ramp short shrift. My concept is to embrace the pungency.
So how do we embrace the pungent nature of the ramp? RUBS! Yes, rubs for meats to be grilled and smoked or barbequed. I won't go into the subtleties of grilling vs. smoking vs. BBQing etc. My method is to grill over low coals with lots of smoke from pieces of aromatic woods tossed on the existing coals to provide the smoke. Cooking method aside, the RUB is a paste made of our ingredient (ramps) used to season or marinate the meat by literally rubbing it on the meat and giving it some time to marinate. 2 rubs I make that work exceptionally well with ramps substituted for scallions are Jamaican Jerk and Korean Bul Go Ki. When I refer to substituting ramps for scallions I refer to WHOLE ramps, not just the bulbs. It MUST have the green leaves and the stems too.
APPALACHIAN RAMP BUL GO KI RUB
The Jerk rub works best with more white meats like Chicken, Pork and Turkey and the Bul Go Ki rub works best with more red meats like Beef and Venison. BOTH work exceptionally well with LAMB. The Jerk flavor CAN work well with red meats but is best with the prime cuts like Venison Tenderloins. If you like your meat cooked until it's gray just forget this. Don't waste a great venison tenderloin by cooking it to death. If you won't eat this cut raw or at least very very rare, save if for someone who will and satisfy yourself with a hamburger of dubious meat quality cooked well done and then some. Jerk also works very well on fish, particularly the whiter fleshed types like tilapia or cod. If you are fortunate enough to have access to walleye and especially bluegill you are in for a real treat.
KEEPING RAMPS AVAILABLE OUT OF SEASON
Ramps are extremely seasonal and highly perishable and the season is quite short (perhaps only 2 weeks in the Northern Appalachian regions of Southern Ohio). Saving them for year round use presents a serious problem. I've found 2 acceptable solutions although they are NOT as good as having fresh ramps.
Ramps cleaned with roots removed ready for use or preserving.
The first is FREEZING. Remove the roots, rinse and bundle your ramps in handfuls in ziploc bags in bunches about the same as scallions come in from the store. Squeeze as much of the air out of the bags as possible before sealing but don't squeeze so hard that the ramps are crushed. Date the bags and toss them in the freezer. These frozen bunches can be "shaved" or chopped as needed for cooking throughout the year without any need to thaw them first. (You'll be needing a SHARP knife with a sturdy blade for cutting frozen ramps) These work great in those scrambled egg dishes I referenced earlier. They are not as great as fresh ramps but still darn good. When placing your ramps in the bag to freeze them keep them all facing the same way, bulbs on one end and leaf tips on the other. This way when you take out a bunch to shave off some for a recipe you may more easily choose between bulb or leaf bits as best fits the application at hand. Kept solidly frozen your ramps should easily last until next spring when it's time to go get more. I've never had them last that long myself as they get used up very quickly.
Prepared rubs are also are easily frozen in 1 quart ziploc bags. A bit under 1/4 cup of rub in the bottom of the bag can be rolled out to something like a thin cigar along the bottom of the bag. Then roll the bag up from the bottom to remove the air as much as possible and when rolled completely the top can be zipped. Save the box your bags come in to store your rub "cigars" more efficiently in the freezer. They can be quickly thawed as needed then the meat to be rubbed can be tossed in the same bag, rubbed, then re-zipped and marinated for as long as desired. A few minutes is usually enough to thaw the rub, especially if you crack the bag open and give it a little mushing up then a few hours of marinating your meat will work and overnight is even better. Of course put your marinating meat back in the fridge during this time. Kept solidly frozen I have kept rubs for several years with no ill effects although they do lose some of their potency over time.
The second method for saving ramps long term is PICKLING. Pickled ramps are an Appalachian mainstay although many picklers only bother with the bulbs. I pickle the entire ramp, less roots. Literally shove as many ramps as you can into a 1 quart mason jar without crushing them, pour a few tablespoons of salt on top of them then fill the jar with cheap white vinegar and screw down the cap. It doesn't hurt to give the jar a good shaking to dissolve the salt into the vinegar and get everything evenly distributed. You may leave this in the fridge (I don't bother refrigerating mine until after I open the jar and start using them) and draw off them as your culinary needs dictate. The vinegar from these is also culinarily useful for deglazing pans or for adding to recipes requiring acidity. The infused pickling vinegar carries the ramp flavor very well. For us the jury is still out on the shelf life for picked ramps as we only started doing it this past summer (2012). We pickled both whole ramps and bulbs only. We started drawing off of the whole ramps after about 4 months of sitting in the cellar without refrigeration then moved the rest of them to the fridge and are still using them.
If the straight vinegar method renders your ramps too sour for your taste you may replace 1/3 of the vinegar with water but I would not dilute it more than that unless they will be kept refrigerated. Even in the fridge, the less vinegar you use, the shorter the shelf life of your preserved ramps.
Pickled ramps remain more pungent than frozen ramps but the pickling process does change the flavor as one would imagine. You'll still know it's a ramp though.
OTHER USES AND PAIRING WITH OTHER INGREDIENTS
Ramps make an excellent addition to herb rubs for roasts like herb crusted lamb or pot roast. Fresh is best but frozen or pickled can be chopped up and used as well. They go well with fresh rosemary when herbing roasts.
As previously mentioned they can be chopped and added to scrambled eggs or in quiches. They also work great in fritatas or as a filling in conventional omelets (don't overdo it in the omelets, balance it with mushrooms, cheese and other more mild fillings.)
Mix chopped ramps into your cornbread batter for a new twist on cornbread, corn muffins or savory corn pancakes.
Add ramps to braised meats slow cooked in a Dutch oven.
FRESH ramps can be used anywhere you would use scallions but be advised that consuming raw ramps in salads and such should be approached with moderation until you know how your stomach will tolerate them. Gastrointestinal irritation is a fairly common occurance reported by people consuming too many raw ramps. If you haven't had them before don't start by eating a big bowl of them raw.
Replace the scallions in your favorite Korean
Kim Chee recipe
with fresh ramps. If your recipe is very heavy on the scallions cut back a
bit on the ramp volume as they can be a bit overpowering in this application.
If you just plain don't like
Kim Chee you REALLY won't like Ramp
Kim Chee.