Last year I posted about harvesting garlic in early summer, and saving some of the best cloves to sow in the fall for next year’s crop; I have also shared two recipes featuring garlic, one for fish (al mojo de ajo) and the other, for young potatoes (al ajillo). I briefly mentioned that I grow hardneck garlic, noble varieties that give an extra crop at the end of spring: garlic scapes, the flower bud of hardneck garlic plants:
These pointy buds are removed young, before they bloom, to encourage the bulbs underground to grow bigger. In my garden (gardening zone 6B), they start bolting at the top of the leaves in early June, and a week later or so, I wait for a sunny afternoon to kneel down and trim them (see this year’s harvest at the top of this post). In Canada, they are valued as a gourmet edible, and often show up at farmer’s markets, either fresh or made into the almighty pesto sauce.
I had never heard of them in Mexico; I learned from a farming website that they are called escapo or chicotillo (which is a type of whip, similar in shape to a curled-up garlic scape), but I could find no Mexican recipes using escapos … yes, that called for some brainstorming to develop original recipes. In my next posts, I will start with a standard recipe for garlic scape pesto, and then incorporate it into two traditional Mexican recipes to create my own fusion dishes.
I am linking to Judy Dykstra-Brown’s “To the Point – Challenge”
I am also joining Cee’s Flower of the Day (FOTD)
My Slice of Mexico 
Looking forward to your recipe…
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Thank you!
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I used to get these when I worked as a chef in Vermont. They are great chopped sauteed, as an addition to potatoes or any cooked or roasted vegetable. They’re also great for making bold flavored pesto, that goes well with grilled meats. I also used them often as a garnish for such plates. Wish I could get them here. 🙂
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Once again, I love the variety of ways people can come up with to “come to the point.” So you get a double crop from your garlic. Reminds me that I ordered a new garlic press from the internet that I am fond of. I’ll send you a photo of it and see if you’ve seen one like this..
Need to go press some garlic for a soup I’ve been meaning to make for four days now…Judy
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Oh yes, I love kitchen gadgets, Judy!
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Your crop looks lovely and healthy! Looking forward to the recipes, especially the pesto.
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Thanks, Joy!
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