Three Cornered Leeks – eat as much of this Naughty Plant as you can!
I was chatting with my friend Carol the other day, about wild garlic, and she asked if I had tried three cornered leeks. Tried them? – I’d never even heard of them!
So, she took me into her garden and picked me some. Very pretty with a milder but similar smell/fragrance to wild garlic. So naturally I had a play …
Firstly, having done some research (see Wild Food UK for lots of useful information on three cornered leeks) and read that the whole plant is edible I nervously nibbled a flower.
I then nibbled the stem and a leaf –the taste was very similar to wild garlic, which I love, but maybe a little milder.
Yesterday, driving round Cornwall’s gorgeous wildflower filled lanes, I spotted a patch of these naughty flowers.
I say naughty because, as it says on Wild Food UK …
“An invasive species brought over to the UK from the Mediterranean,
it is an offence under Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act in England and Wales to plant or otherwise cause to grow this species in the wild.”
I thought I’d better try to help eradicate the buggers so picked a big bunch. Apparently, they can be confused with white bluebells (bit of an oxymoron!), although they smell quite different. See here for how to identify three cornered leeks.
Three Cornered Leeks and Wild Garlic
Now then, as I said, three cornered leeks are very similar to wild garlic (in fact they are sometimes known as three cornered garlic) so it would be cheating, I feel, if I just repeated all my wild garlic ideas. Instead see my post on wild garlic here for lots of info and ideas and do the same with three cornered leeks.
A few more suggestions for Three Cornered Leeks
~ Add to salads – the flowers are tasty and so pretty
~ Hummus and other bean dips
~ Add to soup – see my basic soup recipe here, which is very, very flexible, and take it from there!
~ The flowers make a very pretty and tasty garnish
~ Stir into scrambled eggs or add to omelettes
Any more ideas? Let me know, please.
Suzy Bowler
Having been a somewhat itinerant chef for over 30 years I was amazed, on my return to the UK, at the blatant food waste that now seems to be rife in the country; amazed and irritated. So much so that I decided to start a blog about spontaneous cooking from leftovers to show people that there are great alternatives to throwing food away.
One Comment
Anita
Now I know what these are I realise I can eat them rather than consign them to the garden waste bin – they are pretty rampant in my garden so it may take a while – thanks for your help!