What are Garlic Scapes?
“There are five elements: earth, air, fire, water and garlic”
What are garlic scapes?
Well, a cynic would say scapes are a free bi-product from growing garlic that farmers have convinced us to pay money for. But I choose to look at them as an early gifts to hold us over until the garlic is ready for harvest.
A scape is a botanical term for a stem which bears a flower (yes, heirloom garlic will flower). The reason garlic farmers must cut these off on their plants is to make sure as much energy as possible goes into growing the garlic bulb we all love so much. If they leave these scapes, most of its energy will be diverted into the flowering process and will result in some unimpressive bulbs for harvesting.
Because there are essentially a bi-product of the main harvest, you can often buy large amounts for fairly low prices. This leads to a similar conundrom we face during summer squash season. There is such an abundance and only so much garlic scape pickles and pesto one can make. My lastest favorite way to process a lot of Garlic Scapes is to make Garlic Scape Salt. Correctly made and stored, this will last in a pantry all year. Use it just like garlic salt! Great on steaks, buttered bread, popcorn, grilled veggies, a fresh salad…. anything you want to make could probably benefit from a little extra garlic.
As Anthony Bourdain said, “Garlic is Divine”.
