Botanical name: Alliaria petiolata
Garlic Mustard is one of the first plants I ever learnt to forage. It boasts a gorgeous, full bodied garlicky taste and grows abundantly in the wild. Yet it is a plant with a massive PR issue.
It is native to Europe, North Africa and asia, where it has been used for food and medicine for thousands of years but not necessarily appreciated. It is known as 'Jack by the hedge' in the UK, denoting how common it is. These days, it's mostly forgotten. People up and down the country get excited about wild garlic coming into season but are unaware that this unsuspecting plant has similar flavours to offer across a longer growing season. And in countries to which it has travelled (or rather, transported to by humans!) it has become classed as invasive and a nuisance, giving it a bit of a bad boy reputation.
So, what can we learn from sitting with this fascinating plant?
Garlic Mustard Identification
Garlic Mustard is a biennial plant, meaning that its life cycle spans two years. It looks different across the two years - growing in a basal rosette of leaves or the first year (as pictured above), and growing into a taller plant that flowers with little delicate white flowers and pointier leaves in the second year (pictured below). It is a member of the mustard family, and actually has no relation to garlic -- though it does release sulphur containing compounds, giving it that garlicky smell and taste! The flowers are formed in small clusters and feature four petals arranged in a cross shape, which is why the family is also known as the Crucifers (Cruciferae).
I love surprising people by offering a nibble of this plant while out on a walk - it's a great example of how rich in flavour our native wild plants can be, while hiding in plain sight (hogweed is another). We spend money on buying garlic from the shops whereas this grows for free all around us.
It's a great plant for beginner foragers because it has such a distinctive smell and taste that you can't really get it wrong (see my blog of how to start foraging). If you live in the UK, you'll come to notice it everywhere one you learn to identify it as it's s extremely common, growing in sheltered areas with damp soil, by hedges and woodland margins, riverbanks and clearings.
History
Garlic mustard's spicy seeds have been discovered pounded into the stone of a 6,000 year old Danish cooking pot! Researchers believe that this could be the earliest European record of spice being used for flavouring for meat and fish as the seeds will have had little nutritional value. This has changed the way we think about prehistoric diets in Europe, which were previously thought to have been devoid of spice!
One of its vernacular names is 'sauce alone', and another is 'poor man's mustard' - both pointing ot its common use in European cuisine. It was used in the early modern period to flavour fish and meat. That said, I could find surprisingly little folklore about it online, which really surprised me.
However, the name Jack-by-the-Hedge offers some interesting folkloric connections. In British tradition, the name "Jack" often denotes a trickster or an outsider. Sometimes, Jack is linked to the Devil himself, especially in old folk tales where he outsmarts supernatural forces (for example Jack and the Beanstalk, or Jack O'Lantern. Jack the Green is also another interesting figure - a man who was dressed in foliage in May Day processions and was often rowdy and drunk! Garlic mustard, thrives in overlooked places and marginal places, just like folk heroes and outcasts in old storied.
It was because of its culimnary uses that European settlers decided to to take it with them on their travels... It was introduced to North America via Long Island in 1860. Having no natural predators, it spread uninhibited throughout continent, becoming quite damaging. It seems that certain compounds in garlic mustard are indirectly allelopathic, hindering the growth of nearby plants, and negatively impact mycorrhizae, which are symbiotic relationships between plant roots and fungi. This means that other plants cannot grow around it, thus facilitating its further spread.
If you live in North America or other areas where it is considered invasive, you should be careful not to spread it inadvertedly via its seeds, but feel free to eat it (which will help keep it under control)!
Foraging uses
Garlic mustard is rich in vitamins A & C and also includes cancer preventing isothiocynates.
Personally, I love picking the young leaves in late winter to early spring - they make a great addition both to salads and also cooked dishes (wherever you'd use garlic really!). Some ideas include:
Chopped up into a spaghetti bolognese or risotto
Fry the leaves with some mushrooms and serve on toast with an fried egg on top!
Wild garlic pesto (
Lactoferment the leaves by combining with salt (great for your gut!)
You can also eat the stems when tender and the flowers. More intriguingly, the seeds have a peppery taste and the taproot apparently has a radishy taste - I have yet to try these but they are on my list!
Herbal Medicine
As part of the mustard family, which also includes cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, mustard, and watercress, garlic mustard is one of those vegetables that, when consumed as part of a healthy, balanced diet, might aid in cancer prevention (see eatweeds website).
It has been used as an antiseptic herb to treat bruises, sores, coughs and colds among other things, though it isn't necessarily the herbalist's go to plant.
Biodiversity
Many insect herbivores are associated with Garlic Mustard, but its most famous relationship exists with that of the Orange-tip Butterfly. The caterpillars will moult four times whilst actively feeding on the seed-pods, eventually pupating after three to four weeks. It isn't the only butterfly reliant on the plant, for the Green-veined White also favours Garlic Mustard for its developing larvae. Fortunately for both, they aren't in competition as the White eats the leaves instead (see Sussex Wildlife Trust)
Concluding Thoughts
While Garlic Mustard remains an under appreciated plant that is often overlooked or villainised, it's definitely a plant worth taking a second look at and getting to know. Just like the trickster Jacks in folklore tales show us, marginal figures often bring complex messages and contribute to the wellbeing of the whole.
This particular wild Jack is incredibly nutritious, tasty and offers biodiversity benefits when growing in its native habitat. So next time you spot it out and about, why not have a taste - or pick some to add to your dinner that evening. In doing so you'll be tapping into a thousands of year old culinary tradition and also engaging with the wild landscape around you.
Let me know how you get on!
References
Liz Knight, Forage
Rosamond Richardson, Britain's Wildflowers
Robin Harford, Edible and Medicinal Wild Plants of Britain and Ireland
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