Garlic Scapes

I've written several posts about the garlic we grow, like  Garlic for the Garden   and   Time to Dig Garlic .  The second link contains a reference to "garlic scapes" which are the flower stalks the garlic bulb makes.  We cut these off so the plant will put all its energy into making a nice large head (root), instead of making a flower and producing seeds.

Depending on the variety of garlic, the scapes will be curly, like this.

Or, they will be long and straight, like this.

They actually make a rather pretty "bouquet".  Scapes have a mild garlic taste and are often used in cooking.  When cooking with them, the part closest to the flower bud is used because it is more tender.  The bottom part can be tough.  The stems can be sliced into small pieces and add to soups and stir-fries.   They can even be used in pesto.

This year, I am trying something new.  I heard scapes were very good when pickled.  So, I found a recipe online and did just that.  Here are the two jars of garlic scape pickles I made.

The one on the left was made from curly scapes and the one on the right from straight scapes.  These are refrigerator pickles.  The recipe I used called for vinegar, water, a little bit of sugar and salt.  These ingredients were brought to a boil and poured over the clean scapes in sterile jars.  The jars were then sealed, allowed to cool and stored in the refrigerator.   Other ingredients could have been added, as well, such as red pepper flakes, black pepper corns or mustard seed.

Never able to leave well enough alone, I wondered if scapes could be fermented.  Last fall, I wrote about my attempt at making kimchi, Making Kimchi .  In that article, I posted a picture of a cheap little fermenting set that I purchased online.  

The kimchi I made with it turned out great.  So, why not ferment garlic scapes?  Again, searching online (isn't the internet wonderful!), I found several references to fermenting garlic scapes.  So, here they are.....fermenting away.

Unfortunately, by the time I got around to doing this, I only had one small bunch of scapes left.  Tom had sold the rest of them to an Asian grocery store in town.  Apparently, garlic scapes are in high demand in oriental cuisine.  So, the jar is not full and they are just sort of floating around in the brine inside the jar.  

The jury is out on how the fermented ones will taste.  But, I can assure you the ones I pickled are excellent!