RAMPS

RAMPS ARE WILD LEEKS and a celebrated first sign of spring. When the forest floor is still cold and brown, hardy ramps poke out their spade-shaped leaves (skunk cabbage comes along at that time, too, and is actually edible, but you’d have to be starving to death to consider it). Ramps grow plentifully and indigenously on the East Coast and as far west as the Great Lakes. In Appalachia, entire festivals are devoted to gathering and eating them; ramps have been a localized part of our culture and economy for generations.

The truth is, however, that ramps have become so popular in restaurants in the past several decades that their brief, wild existence is compromised. As a chef, I feel a bit responsible. I do not think anyone celebrates ramps more than we do at Gramercy Tavern. But as the trend of using wild food has amplified, and ramps are over-harvested, we have to consider how to manage this natural resource more responsibly. Ramps should be considered a rare delicacy; a connection to the fragile, natural world around us.