Took advantage of the nice weather and went up to the mountains today to forage some wild ramps. Can anyone explain why this one doesn’t have that deep purple stem that the rest of the ramps have. Never seen one like that.
I’m pretty sure it’s just like how other types of onions (or other plants)have different color expressions.
There is a big stand of them in an easy near by to me spot that I go every year, and they are all lacking the red/purples on the stem.
Anecdotally, the ones I’ve found there also seem to have a higher water content/looser bulb structure, be a bit more fragile, and have a milder flavor.
Id be really curious to see if your experience is similar, but given you found it with all ones that have the coloration, I’m guessing maybe that one was situated someplace in the patch that whatever conditions trigger the color, didn’t happen for that one.
Either way, let us know if you come across more white ones and any other notable differences between them.
Didn’t have as much time as I wanted to up there hoping to get back sometime next week. Was just a little weird because they were all from the same patch. And I like that dark purple color when they have it lol.
I can smell you from here! Lol
You’re not lying. These things were as pungent as ever.
Yeah it looks nice, and so far in my limited experience with the all white ones, I prefer the ones with color on the stem.
The only white ones I’ve had are from a couple patches near my house though.
Hoping to get out this weekend and look around a bit. Still haven’t found any morel, good excuse to spend more time in the woods.
Mmmmmm! Makes me want stew. lol
Starting to see Morels too!
So, whats the morel
of the thread here? What do you guys like to do with your ramps? I like a potato ramp chowder with some ham off the bone. Thats after foraging and eating a couple dozen and reaking like a skunk onion for more than a few minutes. So, raw and chowder are my go to. Dont care for pickled.
Nothing better than a good foraged meal. Satisfying on so many levels.
Going to try pesto and compound butter this year to throw on steaks off the grill. Very excited. Usually we just brown them with some butter and make ramp garlic bread ect.
Bulbs - pickled, grilled, lightly sautéed, all good cooking methods
Greens - raw, very lightly grilled or sautéed, salted and chopped or puréed into compound butter.
You can also use sautéed or pickled ramps in the compound butter.
I usually try to keep it simple and let the ramps shine.
Grilled along side chicken or steak. On a pizza or toast and a light cream or olive oil sauce.
Ramp pasta
Pickled ramps make a great tartar sauce or a hell of a Gibson if that’s your thing.
Sautéed with peas and the toniest bit of fresh mint and/or a fresh cheese.
Potato and ramp hash with a nice sunny side egg on top
Damn. Really craving some now. If the rain lets up I’ll go grab a few this afternoon.

