I sneaked out into the woods yesterday, it’s just glorious in the woods right now, the trees bursting into all shades of green and there’s an earthy smell in the air of warming soil and a hint of garlic. 

We’re in full wild garlic season here, atypically early, the leaves are fresh and spicy, all budding and dancing in the speckled sun rays come seeping through the new foliage. It’s the most homely smell in the world to me. 

What you’ll need

A good three handful of fresh wild garlic buds

Sea salt

Fir tree honey

1dl good vinegar, I took a nice vinaigre de Xeres

Water

A couple of cardamon beans

Small pickling jars

How to do it

Fill the wild garlic buds into the pickling jars, you may press a little so that they’re well full. Ensure you took off the stems. Add a bean or two of cardamon. As a rule of thumb I use one for a jar of 80ml. Add a tea spoon of sea salt per jar. Bring the vinegar to simmer, immediately take off the heat and add two generous tea spoons of honey. Evenly pour the vinegar into the jars and fill up with boiling water. Seal and let sit in a sunny spot for two days, then keep in a cold and dark place. 

How to eat it

Accompanying graved fish or in a pasta sauce with dried tomatoes and black olives. If they turn out too salty to your taste just cover them in fresh water for half an hour.