Food post! We are eagerly awaiting "ramp season" here.

[mlawson]

Ramps are short for rampions, a very pungent wild leek that grows in the higher terrains of Western NC and East TN. They taste like a cross between garlic and leeks, and are much sought after by their many aficionados. The season is usually during April, and the first small ones might appear in the produce stands here in a couple of weeks. :bounce:

The favorite preparations are ramps fried with potatoes, or eggs. The entire plant may be eaten; the green tops are excellent lightly braised with lemon juice and olive oil. I use them in place of garlic for the weeks I have them. They are also eaten raw, like scallions.

Health benefits include 'cleaning the circulatory system', and they are considered by many to be a 'spring tonic'. The native Americans used them, as they had no real onions before the Conquest.

Now, there are tales of the ramps causing bad breath, but that is, of course, poppycock... ;-) Anyway, I can not wait!!!!

[TennesseeWalker]

1. We have a Ramp Festival here in upper east Tennessee, in Flag Pond.

Unicoi County, just off I-26, about 30 minutes or so from Asheville....ya'll come!

[wryter2000]

2. Hongry

You guys are making me hungry.

[tridim]

3. Those sound good

I've never seen them before. When you say pungent, do you mean they're more pungent than strait garlic? Sounds like these would make a killer pasta sauce.

[mlawson]

4. Pungent, as in a combined smell and taste

that I can't really define in words. Yeah, more 'smelly' cooking than garlic. Far more. An acquired taste for some people, but most take to them immediately and addictively.

Pasta sauce... I believe they would overpower the other ingredients, but yes, it would be killer!! I like them cooked in a pot of pinto beans, in place of onions and garlic. They go very well with Mexican food, also.

I do not believe they grow anywhere but the Southern Appalachians, but that could be wrong.

[Burma Jones]

5. Ramps are rampant in West By God Virginia too

And they are as good a thing to have with eggs as there is. Ramps do smell though, and I mean your breath smells, your sweat smells even your feet will smell of ramps. And for God's sake, do not ever let them sit in a zip lock bag unrefrigerated, you will suffocate when you open that bag. Why, I did that to a man in Reno, just to watch him die.

[mlawson]

6. OMG!! They might be used by terrorists!!!

I hadn't thought of that.

[MountainLaurel]

7. WMDs in the Appalachians

Who'd have thunk it?

[Deja Q]

8. Aw man, vegetarian roadkill!!

:9 :9 :9 :9 :9 :9 :9 :9

[Clyyyde]

9. Ramps Rock!

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