Culinaria: Three cornered leeks

Three-cornered leeks, also called three-cornered garlic, have come to populate the roadside verges near my house. They are a wonderful little white flower and emit a deep garlic smell when pressed to the nose. Upon picking them the other day, my morally conscious seven-year-old told me to stop stealing them. She thought I had reversed into someone’s driveway and invaded their garden.

Many people have these leeks in their garden but mistake them for the white flowered bluebell family. If in doubt, give it a smell. British forager Miles Irving says three-cornered leeks have been cultivated in Britain since 1759. They quickly colonised the verges, edges and banks of roads and fields. In Ireland, it is said that peasants long ago hung this plant outside their door to keep the vampires away. Unfortunately, I don't think they took the pleasure of eating it.

As well as using the flowers in a spring salad, they also pair well with shell fish. A nice light dish of some dressed crab would benefit from a sprinkling of these flowers and some extra virgin rapeseed oil. The leaves of this plant can be used in a similar way to chives, though be careful with their flavour as they are more robust. Finely sliced and pan fried with some fish is the way to go.

Just pop them in at the end with a little butter and cook very briefly. I always seem to revert to oysters in this column (is it not one of our national and historic foods?) and both the flowers and the stems work well with lightly grilled oysters. To take the garlicky edge off the stems, quickly blanch them in boiling water and then refresh in ice water. Finely chop and fold into room temperature butter.

Place a little knob on top of a native oyster and grill until the butter melts. Be careful not to over-cook the oyster. Finally, a potato and three-cornered leek soup should keep any cold at bay.