Although foraging is a lot of work, the payoff is great!
We had a great morning.
Anyone know what ramps are retailing for at farmers market? By the bunch, not by the pound. And how many per bunch?
Thanks!
:-)
We were just talking about the cost of these things. Ramps are so popular in the Chef world and the season is short. How many ramps in a bunch? We got plenty, just wondering the street value, lol
My son looked at some at Union Square last year (when looking for me) and as I recall it was 10 or so to a bunch.
Actually just bought a ton of ramps at Union Sq. They were $4.00/bunch. Bunch size and ramp quality varied from vendor to vendor. Best of the "bunch" was from a vendor at the very NE corner of the park. I got between 25 and 30 ramps in each bunch. This vendor has the cleanest, plumpest and freshest looking ramps in the whole market.
Apparently, we have to question the provenance of ramps found in markets and restaurants:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/20/din...
True. More and more we need conservation in all our deeds.
We are fortunate to have a great source from where we can take what we need and save some for tomorrow. My children have been taught this lesson and shown how to conserve our resources.
I hope that since we forage in a huge mountainous area that no one else seems to forage much and we pick only a few from each patch, we will continue to conserve.
Our ramps do not have the long stringy roots that are indicative of over harvesting. We've been in this area for many years. Good practices pay well.
Maybe a bit of humility is a good thing.
$14.99 a pound at Whole Foods in Danbury last week, and that's pretty cheap (last year they were around $25). Where can they be foraged in Westchester/Putnam? I recall reading a post last year (unrelated to food) where someone who lived in Mohegan Lake was complaining about wild onions -- I wouldn't be surprised if they were ramps and he didn't know about it).
You gotta be in a forested area, near a stream, river or lake/pond with the slope facing south for best results.
I recommend some internet research and even someone to help you out.
These were foraged in the Catskills after our morning turkey hunt. My favorite are eaten right there on the spot, raw, rinsed in the cold mountain spring.
Wild turkey, ramps, mushrooms, fiddle heads, brook trout from the stream, dandelion greens, Japanese knotweed, garlic scapes (and fresh chicken eggs from the neighbors coop) start the spring season and we move on to berries and wild herbs throughout the summer and into fall where venison, rabbit, grouse, field garlic (wild onion) and other wild beautiful natural bounties exist...
It is coll. And that's mostly upstate. Island side we still forage some but in summer we fish our local waters for sea bream, sea bass, striped bass, blackfish, blue fish, etc.. blue crabs, Clams...
Long Island and upstate NY are more than most think they are...
:-)
I love out here on the East End too, you can find rose hips, beach plums and cranberries growing near the beaches. I'm going to try to make it to Wildman Bill's excursion when he hits Sunken Meadow this summer, if I can. Sounds like he will be pointing out tons of stuff I never dreamed of, including seaweed.
Last year at the Bronxville Farmer's Market they had them for about $5.00 a bunch. These were vastly superior to the ones I saw at Fairway, but that is another location that may have them later this month.
The Bronxville market opens tomorrow, May 9th.
In what way were they superior? The ones I got at Whole Foods a couple of weeks ago looked very much like the ones pictured above, which fresh dark greens. Less mud on the bulb end, however :-). I do recall that the greens on the ones I bought at Fairway last year didn't look as good.
I also recall that Fairway had priced them by the half or quarter pound, to try and hide the real price from people (or at least confuse them). BTW at Whole Foods, they have to be rung up as baby leeks because they don't have ramps in their produce code book.
Last year, the Fairway ramps were in the organic section and were small, sickly and skinny. The ones from the Farmer's market had a big fat onion part and a big leafy green section. They were also cheaper at the Farmer's market(even more so if you go when the market is about to close then they may give you three bunches for $12.00).
As far as Pricing by the half or quarter pound, Fairway did that with Fiddleheads last year so that they ended up costing about $32 a pound which seemed a bit excessive. The only place I have ever seen Fiddleheads besides fairway was the Market in Grand Central Terminal and those were a little worse for wear.
by Jen Wheeler | Need a spring vegetable guide to what's in season? Consider this your spring produce cheat sheet—complete...
by Rachel Johnson | Whether the kids are still distance learning or returning to a classroom, with school back in session...
by Kelly Magyarics | You’ve sprung for a gorgeous piece of enameled cast iron cookware; protect your investment by cleaning...
by Debbie Wolfe | Home chefs love wood cutting boards because they are durable and reliable. Wood boards are attractive...