Grilling garlic scapes

[Hassouni]

Having never cooked them before, I found some garlic scapes on sale yesterday, and picked up a bunch. Planning on grilling all of last night's dinner, I googled "grilling garlic scapes" and saw that it's commonly done. Most of the recipes said "grill over a hot fire [as if fire's not hot??] till charred in spots and soft". I grilled until HEAVILY charred in spots, and even then the majority were not particularly soft and the outer skin remained very hard and nearly inedible, though the interiors of some of the scapes were OK.

 

What's the right way? Blanch them first? Grill over indirect heat?

[TicTac]

It all depends how old your garlic scapes are.

 

They can at times get very fibrous and tough, especially towards the bottom of the stem.

 

You could blanch first if that is the case, however; I prefer to grill them on low-med heat (whoever said over a HOT fire was wrong) to ensure they are cooked within and still get a char. 

 

You could also peal the thicker outer layer, especially towards the bottom, though I have not tried that method.

[Martin Fisher]

Having never cooked them before, I found some garlic scapes on sale yesterday, and picked up a bunch. Planning on grilling all of last night's dinner, I googled "grilling garlic scapes" and saw that it's commonly done. Most of the recipes said "grill over a hot fire [as if fire's not hot??] till charred in spots and soft". I grilled until HEAVILY charred in spots, and even then the majority were not particularly soft and the outer skin remained very hard and nearly inedible, though the interiors of some of the scapes were OK.

 

What's the right way? Blanch them first? Grill over indirect heat?

 

 

They were too old.

[JohnT]

Excuse my ignorance, but what are garlic scapes?

[mkayahara]

Excuse my ignorance, but what are garlic scapes?

Garlic scapes are the flower spikes (scapes) of hardneck garlic plants. They need to be removed from the plant in order to encourage the bulbs - that is, the garlic - to develop.

 

I agree with the above commenters who said that they were too old. As with most things in the plant kingdom younger = more tender. Just cook them slower, and they should soften up nicely.

Edited June 11, 2014 by mkayahara (log)

[nakji]

I agree that blanching would help older scapes - like asparagus, checking at the bottom can sometimes tell you how long ago they were cut, or how fibrous they may be. When I cook them, I usually sauté with oil and salt; or throw them into a green curry (cut down) in place of snake beans. I've had problems with old scapes before when I've bought them in Farmer's markets in Canada - I think the growers may have been offering them as a by-product? In markets in China, I think they're grown as a crop  - the ones I buy here are never old or woody. I'm not sure where you picked yours up, but this may be an issue with the ones you had.

[JohnT]

Garlic scapes are the flower spikes (scapes) of hardneck garlic plants. They need to be removed from the plant in order to encourage the bulbs - that is, the garlic - to develop.

Ah, thanks for that - learnt something new today. We just call them garlic flower stalks, but you do not find them for sale in the markets or shops here and I have never thought of cooking any from the few garlic plants that I have grown. I have just put them in the compost heap!

[liuzhou]

I live next more or less next door to a middle school in China. Every evening the kids have evening class and a few street vendors roll up to tempt them. One is the grill man. He charcoal grills chicken wings, legs, bits you don't want to think about, alongside lamb (mutton) skewers, pig's intestines, duck's hearts etc. I don't often frequent his operation, but occasionally. He has been there for about ten years, so we know each other in that casual way you 'know' your local corner shop people.

 

I asked him recently what was his biggest selling item.

 

He didn't hesitate. Grilled garlic shoots / scapes. The kids can't get enough.

 

But yes, they have to be young. Very young. The garlic, not the kids. Well both, actually. I need to lie down!