Fourth of July Issue

COOKING
WITH SCRATCH ©
Ramping it up in Stockholm
Finding treasures in the woods is one of my
favorite things to do. As you know, I am an
avid mushroom hunter and going out in the fall
looking for my reliable seven is something I look
forward to every year.
Spring is not a time of year I expect to forage
for wild edibles, (I haven’t found a good spot
for morels yet), but I was thrilled when my
daughter, Erika, found ramps growing on a path
in the woods near our house in Stockholm, N.J.
For those of you who are not familiar with
ramps or ramsons, allium tricoccum are a North
American species of wild onion that grow on the
East Coast and in Canada. Sometimes referred
to as wild leeks, they are quite pungent, but
pleasantly sweet and taste like a mixture of garlic
and onion.
As you may well expect, the fragrance of
ramps can last for a day or two. I read a story
about young boys eating “a mess of ramps”
and being sent home from school because they
were so stinky that their classmates and teacher
couldn’t bear their smell.
But, hey, if you love garlic, leeks or onions,
I know you will enjoy ramps. Known in the
south as a spring tonic because of the scarcity
of fresh fruits and vegetables over the winter,
ramps are the first spring vegetables to appear,
usually before the trees leaf out. High in vitamin
C, ramps may have saved many a mountaineer
from scurvy and other nutritional illnesses.
After Erika’s discovery, I headed into the
woods, my trusty knife in hand and found not
just one, but at least four or five large patches
of ramps near the trail. Ramps are one of the
unmistakable wild edibles with their tulip-like
silvery green leaves and purply-pink stems. Pick
one and take a sniff. That pungent smell of
garlicky onions is immediately recognizable.
In researching ramp foraging and preparation,
I learned it is important to harvest ramps
sustainably. They shouldn’t be dug up by the
roots as they grow slowly and take as long as
36
by BARBARA SIMMONS
Photos by KAREN FUCITO
LAKE HOPATCONG NEWS Fourth of July 2020
7 years to mature.
Cutting the bulb
just above the root is
recommended, along
with working from the
center of the patch. Be
sure to cover the roots
with dirt and leave
them to grow next
year.
If you have harvested
more than you will
cook within a day,
wrap the unwashed
ramps in a damp paper
towel and put into a
Ziploc bag. They will
stay fresh for two or
three days.
When you prepare the ramps to use in a
recipe, fill your largest bowl (or stockpot) with
cold water and plunge the ramps in to soak for a
few minutes. Then, under a trickle of cold water,
remove any membrane or dirt and then cut the
bulb end clean. Also, cut away any discolored
areas on the bulbs.
Set the ramps aside in a colander propped
up in your dish drain or over another bowl
until you have cleaned the whole batch. Refill
the bowl with cold water and soak the ramps
a second time, ensuring every speck of dirt has
been removed.
Ramps are trending with foodies so there was
no lack of recipes for me to try. I made white
pizza with sautéed ramps, ramp-mushroom
frittata, “rampyssoise” (potato ramp soup),
cream of broccoli with ramps, pickled ramps,
ramp pesto with walnuts, ramp rice cakes. I even
froze blanched ramp “pucks” (in muffin tins
with some blanching water) for future soups
and sauces.
Hands down, everybody’s favorite were the
ramp rice cakes, which are similar in flavor to
scallion pancakes. I tried to recreate the delicious
rice cakes I had eaten at Fannie’s in Warwick,
N.Y. on 28 Railroad Ave. in the Demarest
Building—my absolute favorite place to eat
The author and her daughter, Erika Simmons,
picking ramps earlier this spring.
in the world. Everything they make is locally
sourced and “housemade with love.”
Erika worked at Fannie’s when she first came
home from London last summer, and I grew to
love all of their dishes and their staff. Owners
Brittney Hiller and Stephanie Roth were always
generous and welcoming and didn’t mind
sharing recipes with me. I jotted down the
ingredients and measurements for the rice cakes
during one of my last visits and had meant to
tuck it into my recipe binder.
When I got ready to make the rice cakes, I
searched high and low for my note and when I
couldn’t find it, I decided to “wing it” with what
I remembered. There was cooked rice, some
cornstarch…an egg?... I made a few trial ones
that turned out to be absolutely terrible. They
were actually awful.
I served Erika a couple of them for breakfast
and immediately, she spit out her first bite. She
was mortified because she had never refused
anything I had made for her before—in her life.
She apologized profusely saying “I’m so sorry,
mom….I just can’t eat these!”
I contacted Ava Burgos, the pastry chef at
Fannie’s, and she was able to procure the recipe
for me with the correct proportions. I will be
forever grateful!