There are a few surefire ways to tell that spring has sprung in the UK – and no, the weather isn’t one of them
One is that the clocks have changed, leaving your oven out of sync with everything else in the house, and the other is the appearance of wild garlic. Yes it’s officially green season because the long pointed leaves and white flowers have begun to blanket British woodlands, and chefs have gone mad fer it. It may be one of the easier ingredients to forage and cook yourself but when you’ve got glorious green dishes like these just waiting for you on restaurant menus and specials boards, let someone else do the picking so you can focus on the eating.
Manteca
There’s just something about the combo of wild garlic and pasta and Manteca is doing it the best with this super green wild garlic spaghetti alla chitarra, finished with wild garlic oil and a golden egg yolk. Tasty and a real looker too.
Alex Dilling at Hotel Cafe Royal
At his two-star restaurant at Hotel Cafe Royal, Alex Dilling is ringing in the spring by adding both asparagus and wild garlic to the menu, including on the same plate.
Bocca di Lupo
Bocca di Lupo’s submission to the wild garlic championships is a strong contender: hand-rolled troife with potato, green beans and wild garlic pesto, with the beans providing a double hit of green.
Clarence Tavern
This Stokey spot is peppering wild garlic across its menu – as well as doing a vivid green bowl of wild garlic soup, it’s also served up Hungarian langos bread topped with purple sprouting broccoli, wild garlic and sour cream.
Crispin
Get your wild garlic fix in east and south London as its appearing on both the Crispin and Crispin at Studio Voltaire menus. In Spitalfields, Lewis de Haas is using it in a butter served over spinach and ricotta malfatti, and in Clapham, Michael Miles is doing a wild garlic and anchovy dressing for lamb caillette.
Westerns Laundry
Green has started appearing on the Westerns Laundry menu, like in this wild garlic vichyssoise with eggs and matchstick fries. A spring soup if ever there was one.
Murano
Angela Hartnett’s Murano is celebrating the new season by pairing one spring hero (asparagus) with another (wild garlic) in this vibrant green dish of asparagus with wild garlic gribiche.
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Put the kettle on!
