Toum, toum, wonderful toum!

Garlic at its very best!

First of the season garlic from my garden!

Toum is a middle eastern dipping sauce/condiment that contains uncooked garlic, lemon, salt and oil. It packs a punch and is probably not something you'd want to eat on a first date, but it is a delicious addition to everything from bread to roasted chicken - and of course, savoury crepes!

My favourite garlic for toum is green garlic (fresh, uncured garlic) and my favourite variety is Northern Quebec, which we sell at Nature's Way Farm. Northern Quebec has very large cloves and is surprisingly mild when raw, which is why I like using it for toum. 

I usually only have toum on the menu when garlic is in season or when we've got our own garlic on hand (that we've stored). The garlic from China and California is WAY too strong and ends up producing a very hot, bitter and unpleasant toum. 

Traditionally, toum is made in a mortar and pestle and produces a delicious, textured sauce. I make it in the blender for a smoother more cream-like texture. Either way, it's delicious.

Here's the recipe, give it a try. Just remember, it's strong, no speed dating after eating. Enjoy!

Toum:

Ingredients

1 whole head of garlic, peeled (if the garlic is very small, use two heads)

1 tsp salt

juice of one lemon

30 ml (2 tbsp)water

140 ml (1/2 cup + 1 tbsp) grapeseed oil

Directions

1. Place the garlic cloves in a blender with the salt, lemon juice and water. Turn the blender on and combine for 1 minute. Turn the blender off and scrape down the sides. Continue blending until the mixture is smooth.

2. With the blender running, slowly add the oil to the mixture. Don’t pour the oil too quickly or the sauce will separate. Let the blender run for another 3 minutes. You should end up with a sauce that resembles a fluffy, light cream.

3. If you don’t have a blender, the sauce can be made in a mortar and pestle.

You can't escape the scape ...

They're everywhere right now ... garlic scapes.  What the heck are they and what do you do with them?

My cat Rupee certainly can't escape the scape ...

A garlic scape is the flower of the garlic plant.  You'll see them poking their pointy heads out the top of your garlic plant and curling around into an attractive coil.  If left in tact, it will eventually open into a flower.  The flower draws energy from the growing garlic bulb, so growers harvest the scape in order to send more energy into the bulb.  

Scapes are milder than garlic itself and are extremely versatile.  They will last for weeks in your fridge if wrapped up in a plastic bag and they freeze very well, especially if you vacuum pack them.  

So what do you do with them?

• You can eat them raw
• Toss them in olive oil and grill them on a barbecue
• Mince them and add them to butter to make garlic scape butter
• Saute them with mushrooms and add them to your steak
• Mince them raw and add them to sour cream as a topping for baked potato

The list is endless!  My favourite thing to do with garlic scapes is to pickle them and use them in Caesars (the drink, although, they would be good in the salad too!).

Here's a basic pickled scape recipe; I like them spicy so I often add chili flakes in addition to the cayenne.

Pickled Garlic Scapes

Yields about four pints

2 pounds garlic scapes

1/4 cup canning salt
2-1/2 cups vinegar
2-1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, divided
4 heads dill, divided

Trim the ends off the tips of the scapes (the pointy end); they are very woody and they won't break down.  Combine salt, vinegar and water in a large saucepot. Bring to a boil. Pack scapes lengthwise into hot jars, leaving 1/4” headspace. Add 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, and 1 head dill to each pint. Ladle hot liquid over scapes, leaving ¼” headspace.  Remove air bubbles. Adjust two-piece caps. Process pints and quarts 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner.