There are some treats that are nearly impossible to enjoy if you don’t have access to local produce. One of them is scapes.
Scapes are the immature flower stem of garlic. They come out in late spring and are generally cut off before they bloom to allow the garlic to develop more fully. They have a lovely curl to them.
They are also delicious. They have a much more mellow taste than garlic and are something like a cross between asparagus, small green beans, and a chive. You can saute or steam them and eat them as a vegetable or mixed into an omelet or pasta. You can also make them into a pesto. Here is a pasta dish we made with cut up scapes and scape pesto. Delicious.
scape pasta with scape pesto
The tragedy of scapes is that they are hard to get unless you know someone who grows garlic (and they only appear for a brief period once a year). You might see them at a farmers’ market, but we’ve never seen them at a store.
Brad and I imagine that there are fields and fields of garlic somewhere with scapes not being enjoyed. Some day, maybe we’ll seek them out and spread the love.