Treasure!
That’s what I thought when the garlic scapes arrived. Up until now, we’d only read about these – we’d never actually had any to play with. Scapes are the “flower” stalks of garlic plants and interestingly, only certain varieties produce them. I say “flower”, but in fact the head of the scape is a cluster of miniature cloves.
Our grower friends Ian and Diana recently cut the scapes off their garlic bulbs – a necessary process to ensure the plant doesn’t divert all its energy into flowering rather than forming cloves. Di, bless her, arrived with a huge bag full for me…
A week later, Uncle Steve (Pete’s brother) dropped off another bag of scapes, although these were obviously from a different variety of garlic. Whereas Diana’s were curled, these were straight…
As you can see, the heads are jam-packed with bulbils…
The entire scape is edible, although the tops were very garlicky indeed! The stalks have a milder, but still very distinct, and very fresh, garlic flavour and aroma.
I didn’t want to waste this fabulous bounty, so I washed, chopped and froze about a third of the scapes…
Others were added to stirfries and stews for a gentle garlic kick. The remainder were pulsed in the food processor with flaked almonds, salt and olive oil to create a delicious scape pistou – so called because unlike pesto, it doesn’t have any cheese added…
I’ve been stirring this garlicky paste into everything from pasta (and then I do add cheese) to fried rice. It also makes a delicious dip spread over thin slices of sourdough.
I was right, wasn’t I? It really was treasure.
PS. Have a look at what Linda’s doing with her homegrown scapes!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
You are always coming up with something new and wonderful. I have never heard of these and now I want them!
Deb, they’re amazing and it was so exciting to have a new food on the kitchen bench! I hope you find some – I’ve never seen any for sale here in Oz as they often are in Europe and the US, so you might need to see if you can get them directly from growers. Or in Italy, of course.. :)
treasure indeed! how interesting that they are different shapes Celia! Did your friends say which sorts produce scapes? The few sorts I have tried never have.
Jo, I know! Diana didn’t say, but I’ve read here that it’s usually hardneck garlic that produces scapes, not the softneck variety. At the moment we’ve got a couple of perennial leeks flowering and the flower stems look like the scapes. I’m torn between eating them to see what they’re like and letting them go so that we can collect the seed! :)
An absolute treasure Celia! I love the idea of the scape pistou – sounds heavenly.
:-) Mandy
Mandy, I’m sure we all stink of garlic, we’ve been dipping into the pistou almost daily! :)
we have wild garlic growing in our garden to keep the snakes out. We live on the bottom of the mountain and when the fires come, the snakes move. We have had several in our garden and not all of them are friendly. I use the flowers to decorate and flavour my potato salad, but your pesto sounds deliciously wonderful :)
Tandy, snakes sound scary, but wild garlic sounds wonderful! Does it taste just like regular garlic?
it has a milder taste than regular garlic :)
Hi – Changed my name from Scrambled Preserved to Well Cooked Life (new web site). This looks delicious! I always make soup from scapes but when I have them again will try this…
Hi Em, congratulations on the new website, it looks wonderful! I threw some scapes into our pasta soup recently and the boys loved it – gave the dish a very gentle garlic overtone.
Re freezing, absolutely! I keep far too much in the fridge, and then freeze all the surplus in small ziploc bags. I’ve always frozen pesto in general, so I’m pretty sure this will be fine.
Unlike basil pesto, the garlic scape version, with or without cheese, seems to keep its colour really well.
Also…have you tried freezing this?
super idea! I’ve only used scapes in stir fries, but love the idea of making a pistou. Will have to try… thanks!
Kathy, it’s just so delicious – my latest thing is dolloping a little onto a boiled egg.. :)
I always intend to make scape pistou when my garlic starts shooting them out but I never have. Now I’m definitely motivated to do it next summer. Course, I still haven’t planted out my garlic so I guess I’d better get going. Thanks for the nudge Celia!
Lynn, we’ve never grown garlic in large enough quantities to get any scapes – as it is, we’ve been struggling to just get a decent sized bulb. So I’m feeling incredibly blessed to have been given scapes by not just one, but two, friends this year!
I love the idea of garlic scape pesto, I’ll be adding that to my cooking list for next years home grown crop. Thanks :)
And I love the fact that you and Lynn and others can grow this treasure at home! Wonderful! :)
How long would the scape pistou last in the fridge?
Dani, I don’t know for sure, but I’ve had a batch in there now for a couple of weeks, and it’s still fine. No discoloration or oxidation that you might have with basil pesto/pistou. I’ve also frozen quite a lot of it. I suspect we’re all starting to reek of garlic after eating it for a couple of weeks solid.. :)
Oh it seems like they have a similar fresh greeness to wild garlic, we use it in pasta with mushrooms and bacon. YUM!
Kaves, that’s a fabulous idea, thank you! I’m going to pull out some of our frozen stash and try it like that!
WOW, i never even though about eating these. i must do this next year! c
Oooh, Celi, I bet you’ll have heaps of these from that large crop you’re growing! Now I’m excited to see what you’ll do with them! :)
Wow, how fascinating. I have always dried the ‘flowers’ and used them ornamentally, though I did not a powerful garlic aroma, which explains your comment about being ‘being garlicky’. Love your blog. Thank you for the info.
Lizzy, thank you! I’ve actually seen the garlic in “flower” and it’s very pretty, so I’m not surprised they’d make pretty ornamentals! :)
Very cool, I’ve never used before. Love that you used in a bit of everything. Looks like a must for every kitchen. So impressed with the interesting foods you find. What a treat. :)
Anna, this was really special, because it’s not something we could buy! Hopefully though as we get more growers of garlic in Australia, it will one day become easier to source..
Yes, a treasure. It is a very interesting “vegetable’. I will have to get to ordering some of that garlic it looks amazing too. What a great idea, with the pistou. I wonder how the frozen ones will end up?
Tania, I’ll let everyone know when Ian and Di’s garlic is available! I think the frozen scapes will be fine for stir fries etc. They’ve certainly kept their colour in the freezer!
Oh how lovely, nothing beats fresh goodies. I buy these here in Canberra, but have only ever used them in stirfries, I didn’t even think outside the box with this one. Thanks Celia, I should always know to check with you! Your family should be nice and healthy this year, no summer colds for you guys :-)
Becca, I’m so impressed you’ve found them, I haven’t seen them on sale before. Original pesto idea came from Dorie Greenspan, credit where it’s due, but it’s taken me a couple of years to finally lay my hands on some! :)
I find them at our asian grocery store, and sometimes at the fruit markets where we have a great Asian selection like fresh taro, green mango and pawpaw, galangal, plaintains,tumeric and all sorts of goodies.
My neighbour gave me a bunch of these last year – i had no idea they had a name! I will be interested to see what my crop does this year, as like you I am struggling to get a decent sized bulb…. impatience may play a little part in this…
Ally, I posted about this earlier – we found putting the cloves in the fridge for a spell before planting, plus blood and bone, led to a reasonable crop this year. Last year they were all piddly. No signs of any scapes though! :)
Learning, learning, all the time. I’d never heard of garlic scapes! They sound delicious – especially spread of fresh bread.
Amanda, I’m sure there are garlic growers in SA who would have these en masse at this time of year. You’re right – spread on bread was my favourite way of eating it too! :)
[…] a bit like garlicky asparagus in flavour maybe? Celia at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial has a recipe for pistou, which I’m planning to try with the next ones I pick. This lot went straight into scrambled […]
I’ve never heard of these either Celia how cool! I’m going to keep an eye out for them in the future. I guess they’d be less expensive than garlic?
I only buy Australian when I buy cloves but it’s so pricey this might be a good option.
Claire, honestly, I’ve never seen them on sale! Australian garlic is expensive, but worth it!
In that my grandparents grew large patches of garlic I grew up on scapes, one of the ways “Nonna” would present them at the table would be simply boiled and served with olive oil and salt, sometimes with slivers of raw garlic, always along with a nice toasted slice of Italian/French bread which was an imperative. Ah, the simplicity of it all!!! Oh, I just remembered, she would also make a simple fritatta with little slivers of ham with them, AND (memory is clicking in now) mixed into pasta that had been seasoned with olive oil, a copious amount of black pepper and Romano Pecorino cheese… Grazie Celia!
Gian, thank you for the lovely suggestions! We still have plenty in the freezer, so I’ll try them as you suggest – the old recipes are all tried and tested, and often the best!
Oh, I know that you know but in that I used to teach cooking I must add that when the scapes are added to the pasta they are either lightly boiled first or cooked in butter… A relative reminded me today that scapes can be cooked in a generous amount of butter with slivered garlic, placed over rigatoni or the likes and served with good Parmesan, though very simple it’s very delicious.
I had never heard of scapes before…The scape pistou was delicious! The most amazing mix of nutty, garlicky goodness…
Hello darling, thanks for your comment! It was lovely to have you and Jono over the other night! I should have sent you home with some of the pistou..
That is a bounty indeed!
They are usually availble in Asian grocery shops Celia. A friend introduced them to me a few years ago and suggested that I treat them like asparagus. I have always only used them in stir fries. The pistou sounds delicious though. Must try that next time.
SG, I must look out for them next time, thank you!!
Certainly looks like a treasure to me.. in fact two bags full….
Bless You
paul
Thank you for understanding, Paul. Honestly, if someone had offered me scapes or money last week, I’d have chosen the scapes. I was that excited to see them!
I didn’t know they were called scapes in English! We eat alot of them here in Japan but I never realized they only come from certain varieties of garlic, that explains why we’ve never had any in our garden!!
I love them them lightly fried with bacon and tossed into a little scrambled egg, season with black pepper and a dash of sake!!
Achan, thank you for stopping by! My friend Linda had them in scrambled eggs too, I must give that a go. Thanks for the suggestion!
My word, I have never heard of them, how food blogs continue to educate me :)
Cindy, I love that you think that, because I learn something every time I visit your blog! :)
I’ve never heard of such a thing.
Honestly, you have to write a book. You must!
Maz
Maz, you’re sweet, thank you! :)
I’m going to try this in the morning. It’s not often anyone comes up with a food ingredient that I haven’t tried. Thanks, Celia.
Hope you have fun with them, Liz! :)
Wow. These look so interesting and I’d love to try them. What a vibrant, fresh green pistou you have there. I think I learn more from people like you rather than any book sitting on my shelf. Plus there is the added personal touch of a reply from the author. Where else can you get that!
Thanks Mariana! I hope you get your hands on some of these, I think you’d have great fun with them. :)
I love the color of that pistou- and it stays that color?!
I’m going to have to get some and make it next year.
Thanks, Celia, you are innovative and fun with recipes and vegetables!
Heidi, I know! I still have some in the fridge that I made nearly two weeks ago – it’s still fine eating, and still bright green! We had it smeared on porterhouse steaks last night for dinner.
Had no idea these were called scapes. We do of course use ours and very valuable they are too as our previous year’s crop of garlic is well past it’s best by this time. Love the colour of your pistou and it’s such a fabulous idea too – will bookmark this now and hope I remember for next year!
Choc, it must be so wonderful to grow your own scapes. I doubt our little garlic crop grown in a laundry tub in a warm climate will ever get to the point of flowering.. :)
I have never heard of scapes. The colour of the paste you made is so vibrant.
Thanks Charlie! The best bit is – it tastes as vibrant as it looks!
scape pistou? Yes please!
I love this time of year when local garlic is in abundance. Fresh, tasty and kick starts just about every dish I make.
Brydie, there certainly is a lot of it around at the moment, isn’t there? Still very expensive at the markets – I think the bulk of the crops will be here in about six weeks time…
This is very interesting – I have never heard or seen these before!
Thanks for stopping by! We really enjoyed playing with these, and there’s still a big stash in the freezer.. :)
I like when I find them at the market and I never thought of making them into a dip…thanks for the idea.
Norma, you’re most welcome. Hope you have as much fun with them as we’ve been having! :)
WOW! This is what I haven’t known before… I (we) usually use the flower or the head of this scapes… Not using the scapes… And your dip seems so amazing and should be delicious too. Thank you dear Celia, with my love, nia
I clicked, expecting landscaped built out of garlic. I was pleasantly surprised and now imma plant some garlic.