ok i knew ramp season was short but wow! what a difference 5 days can make. on thursday i was buying ramps by the bunch, and on tuesday, three different vendors at the st. lawrence market chuckled and responded the same way when i asked if there were any left. “oh no no. all finished. last week the season ended!” great. well i would have used them with a little less abandon had i known the ramp taps were going to turn off so suddenly. they did agree that this year the season was short. i didn’t see any green garlic left either, although i didn’t feel up to asking for them. which is too bad becaue i had two more recipes to share with you that centred around ramps and green garlic, and now i will have to tease you with lovely pictures of these fleeting wonders, and share a recipe suggesting their substitutions. which i’m sure will be fine, but who needs a bitter reminder that they’re gone? i’ll have to post them this weekend so we don’t drag this out.
for now i’ll share this picture and a memory. i’ll be in new brunswick soon, home of the fiddlehead! while visiting james’ family there, i hope to get my fill of fiddleheads, but i couldn’t resist buying a pound or two last week…they were so plentiful and so fresh-looking. i left them to the care of the NB-native in our house to prepare. after a quick blanching (which came after washing them a LOT), james sauteed them in a bit of oil and butter, and threw in a bunch of ramp leaves at the last minute. you can probably see that he cooked both perfectly, different shades of gorgeous green. and his “secret” serving tip, makes all the difference in the world: when you serve these up, splash on just the tiniest bit of white or white wine vinegar. trust him. sooo good.