When Scapes Curl

 Hey, what an early year! The garlic scapes have emerged already and it won't be long before we will start cutting them off. 

 Ideally for eating this is when they make a nice loop, or double loop depending on variety, but before they get tough and start to straighten out. If I'm not planning of eating them, I always like to cut when they are just starting to straighten - a little fiber development in the stalk is a good thing, I think.

The first picture (below) is of a porcelain scape in that perfect pretzel shape - ready to be eaten (yes, it has white stripes on it, and despite the fact that I usually use Crystal White scapes in floral arrangements, it is still edible). On the right is a porcelain scape just starting to straighten, in what I call the "shepherd's hook" stage. That can be a difference of 2 - 3 days, so if you are selling to the market, be sure to check the scape development often.

Garlic scapes are good food if you know how to use them in cooking. I personally always preferred the main event - the deliciousness from the bulbs - those tasty, mature, juicy and pungent cloves! But what is family for if not to stretch your mind a little. When my sister was home last June, she brought a recipe for beer batter coating and deep fried some garlic scape rings in that. That changed my mind about scapes. They are a fun summer treat!

You just cut the tough pointy tip off and wrap the coils of scape around them selves to secure each one into a ring shape that will hold together through the frying process. You don't want them to be wet - the batter doesn't stick well to water droplets.

Here's the recipe for the batter, if you want to try it:

"Mushroom Will's Beer Batter"

1 cup flour

1 tsp garlic powder (yep, doubling up on the garlic super flavour!!)

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 1/4 tsp salt

paprika to taste

1 beaten egg

1 cup to 1 1/2 cup beer (can substitute with another appropriate liquid, or water)

For a lighter batter, replace 1/3 cup flour with corn starch. For Gluten Free, use Chickpea flour.

My sister Sheri is a big proponent of cast iron pans, as you can see in the picture, and they do work well for this when the pan is well seasoned...we didn't have to use a lot of fat to fry the scapes, just enough to slightly float them. We always use pork lard to deep fry. Not only is the flavour better, but the large size of the fat molecules allows for a nice crispy texture without the batter absorbing too much grease. (this can also be helped by getting the temperature right. Right around 365 F (185 C), but always do a test with the first batch and check that they are getting done nicely. The scape should be slightly tender and the coating golden brown. Pork lard is also very stable at high temperatures and degrades less than vegetable oil. From my understanding, this degradation in deep fryer vegetable oil is what makes the stickiness in your cholesterol that causes problems and blockages in our arteries sometimes.

 P.S. If you want to help your cholesterol situation...I'm told that eating garlic regulates it admirably ;-)