Wild leek
Encyclopedia
Allium tricoccum — known as the ramp, spring onion, ramson, wild leek, wild garlic, and, in French
, ail sauvage and ail des bois — is an early spring vegetable
, a perennial wild onion
. It has a strong garlic
-like odor and a pronounced onion flavor. Ramps are found across North America, from the U.S.
state of South Carolina
to Canada
. They are popular in the cuisines of the rural upland South
and in the Canadian province of Quebec
when they emerge in the springtime. Ramps also have a growing popularity in upscale restaurants throughout North America.
botanist Earl L. Core, the widespread use in southern Appalachia
of the term “ramps” (as opposed to “wild leek” which is used elsewhere) is an instance of the survival of Old English words in the long isolated communities of that region.
tints on the lower stems, and a scallion
-like stalk and bulb. Both the white lower leaf stalks and the broad green leaves are edible. The flower stalk appears after the leaves have died back, unlike the similar Allium ursinum, in which leaves and flowers can be seen at the same time. Ramps grow in groups strongly rooted just beneath the surface of the soil.
in Illinois
in the 17th century gave the city of Chicago
its name, after the area was described by 17th-century explorer Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle, and explained by his comrade, the naturalist and diarist Henri Joutel. The plant called Chicagou in the language of native tribes was once thought to be Allium cernuum
, the nodding wild onion, but research in the early 1990s showed the correct plant was the ramp.
The ramp has strong associations with the folklore of the central Appalachian Mountains. Fascination and humor have fixated on the plant's extreme pungency. Jim and Bronson Comstock founded The West Virginia Hillbilly, a weekly humor and heritage newspaper, in 1957, and ramps were a frequent topic. For one issue, Jim Comstock introduced ramp juice into the printer's ink
, invoking the ire of the U.S. Postmaster General
.
The mountain folk of Appalachia have long celebrated spring with the arrival of the ramp, believing it to have great power as a tonic to ward off many ailments of winter. Indeed, ramp's vitamin and mineral content did bolster the health of people who went without many green vegetables during the winter.
A ramp bath was featured in the 1974 film Where the Lilies Bloom
about life in North Carolina
.
The flavor, a combination of onions and strong garlic, or as food writer Jane Snow once described it, "like fried green onions with a dash of funky feet," is adaptable to almost any food style.
In central Appalachia
, ramps are most commonly fried with potato
es in bacon
fat or scrambled with eggs and served with bacon, pinto beans and cornbread
. Ramps can also be pickle
d or used in soup
s and other foods in place of onions and garlic.
Allium tricoccum is a protected species under Quebec legislation
. A person may have ramps in his or her possession outside the plant's natural environment, or may harvest it for the purposes of personal consumption in an annual quantity not exceeding 200 grams of any of its parts or a maximum of 50 bulbs or 50 plants, provided that those activities do not take place in a park within the meaning of the National Parks Act
. The protected status also prohibits any commercial transactions of ramps; this prevents restaurants from serving ramps as is done in the United States. Failure to comply with these laws is punishable by a fine. However, the law does not always stop poachers, who find a ready market across the border in Ontario
(especially in the Ottawa
area), where ramps may be legally harvested and sold.
Ramps are considered a species of "special concern" for conservation in Maine
, Rhode Island
, and Tennessee
. They are also considered "commercially exploited" in Tennessee. Ramp festivals may encourage harvest in unsustainable quantities.
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, ail sauvage and ail des bois — is an early spring vegetable
Vegetable
The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....
, a perennial wild onion
Allium
Allium is a monocot genus of flowering plants, informally referred to as the onion genus. The generic name Allium is the Latin word for garlic....
. It has a strong garlic
Garlic
Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...
-like odor and a pronounced onion flavor. Ramps are found across North America, from the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
state of South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. They are popular in the cuisines of the rural upland South
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
and in the Canadian province of Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
when they emerge in the springtime. Ramps also have a growing popularity in upscale restaurants throughout North America.
Name
According to West Virginia UniversityWest Virginia University
West Virginia University is a public research university in Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. Other campuses include: West Virginia University at Parkersburg in Parkersburg; West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Montgomery; Potomac State College of West Virginia University in Keyser;...
botanist Earl L. Core, the widespread use in southern Appalachia
Appalachia
Appalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...
of the term “ramps” (as opposed to “wild leek” which is used elsewhere) is an instance of the survival of Old English words in the long isolated communities of that region.
The name ramps (usually plural) is one of the many dialectical variants of the English word ramson, a common name of the European bear leek (Allium ursinum), a broad-leaved species of garlic much cultivated and eaten in salads, a plant related to our American species. The Anglo-Saxon ancestor of ramson was hramsa, and ramson was the Old English plural, the –n being retained as in oxen, children, etc. The word is cognate with rams, in German, Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian, and with the Greek kromuon, garlic, and is probably derived from the Sanskrit. WrightJoseph Wright (linguist)Joseph Wright FBA was an English philologist who rose from humble origins to become Professor of Comparative Philology at Oxford University.-Early life:...
’s English Dialect DictionaryEnglish Dialect DictionaryEnglish Dialect Dictionary is a dictionary of English language dialects, compiled by Joseph Wright.The English Dialect Dictionary, being the complete vocabulary of all dialect words still in use, or known to have been in use during the last two hundred years; founded on the publications of the...
(1904) lists as variants rame, ramp, ramps, rams, ramsden, ramsey, ramsh, ramsies, ramsy, rommy, and roms, mostly from northern England and Scotland.
Description
The ramp has broad, smooth, light green leaves, often with deep purple or burgundyBurgundy (color)
Burgundy is a shade of purplish red associated with the Burgundy wine of the same name, which in turn is named after the Burgundy region of France. The color burgundy is similar to other shades of dark red such as maroon...
tints on the lower stems, and a scallion
Scallion
Scallions , are the edible plants of various Allium species, all of which are "onion-like", having hollow green leaves and lacking a fully developed root bulb.-Etymology:The words...
-like stalk and bulb. Both the white lower leaf stalks and the broad green leaves are edible. The flower stalk appears after the leaves have died back, unlike the similar Allium ursinum, in which leaves and flowers can be seen at the same time. Ramps grow in groups strongly rooted just beneath the surface of the soil.
History and folklore
A thick growth of ramps near Lake MichiganLake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
in Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
in the 17th century gave the city of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
its name, after the area was described by 17th-century explorer Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle, and explained by his comrade, the naturalist and diarist Henri Joutel. The plant called Chicagou in the language of native tribes was once thought to be Allium cernuum
Allium cernuum
Allium cernuum, known as nodding onion and lady's leek, is a perennial plant in the genus Allium.It has an unsheathed slender conic bulb which gradually tapers directly into several keeled grass-like leaves . Each mature bulb bears a single flowering stem, which terminates in a downward nodding...
, the nodding wild onion, but research in the early 1990s showed the correct plant was the ramp.
The ramp has strong associations with the folklore of the central Appalachian Mountains. Fascination and humor have fixated on the plant's extreme pungency. Jim and Bronson Comstock founded The West Virginia Hillbilly, a weekly humor and heritage newspaper, in 1957, and ramps were a frequent topic. For one issue, Jim Comstock introduced ramp juice into the printer's ink
Printing
Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing....
, invoking the ire of the U.S. Postmaster General
United States Postmaster General
The United States Postmaster General is the Chief Executive Officer of the United States Postal Service. The office, in one form or another, is older than both the United States Constitution and the United States Declaration of Independence...
.
The mountain folk of Appalachia have long celebrated spring with the arrival of the ramp, believing it to have great power as a tonic to ward off many ailments of winter. Indeed, ramp's vitamin and mineral content did bolster the health of people who went without many green vegetables during the winter.
A ramp bath was featured in the 1974 film Where the Lilies Bloom
Where the Lilies Bloom
Where the Lilies Bloom is a film adaptation of the novel by the same name, written by Bill Cleaver. The film was made by director William A...
about life in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
.
Culinary uses
In central Appalachia
Appalachia
Appalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...
, ramps are most commonly fried with potato
Potato
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
es in bacon
Bacon
Bacon is a cured meat prepared from a pig. It is first cured using large quantities of salt, either in a brine or in a dry packing; the result is fresh bacon . Fresh bacon may then be further dried for weeks or months in cold air, boiled, or smoked. Fresh and dried bacon must be cooked before eating...
fat or scrambled with eggs and served with bacon, pinto beans and cornbread
Cornbread
Cornbread is a generic name for any number of quick breads containing cornmeal and leavened by baking powder.-History:Native Americans were using ground corn for food thousands of years before European explorers arrived in the New World...
. Ramps can also be pickle
Pickling
Pickling, also known as brining or corning is the process of preserving food by anaerobic fermentation in brine to produce lactic acid, or marinating and storing it in an acid solution, usually vinegar . The resulting food is called a pickle. This procedure gives the food a salty or sour taste...
d or used in soup
Soup
Soup is a generally warm food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables with stock, juice, water, or another liquid. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingredients in liquids in a pot until the flavors are extracted, forming a broth.Traditionally,...
s and other foods in place of onions and garlic.
Ramp festivals
- The community of RichwoodRichwood, West VirginiaRichwood is a city in Nicholas County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 2,477 at the 2000 census. A former coal and lumber boom town, the city's population once flirted with 10,000 but the closure of many underground coal mines caused many of Richwood's residents to leave the state...
, West VirginiaWest VirginiaWest Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
, holds the annual "Feast of the Ramson" in April. Sponsored by the National Ramp Association, the "Ramp Fest" (as it is locally known) brings thousands of ramp aficionados from considerable distances to sample foods featuring the plant. During the ramp season (late winter through early spring), restaurants in the town serve a wide variety of foods containing ramps.
- The city of Elkins, West VirginiaElkins, West VirginiaElkins is a city in Randolph County, West Virginia, United States. The community was incorporated in 1890 and named in honor of Stephen Benton Elkins , a U.S. Senator from West Virginia. The population was 7,032 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Randolph County...
, hosts the "Ramps and Rails Festival" during the last weekend in April of each year. This festival features a cook-offCook-offA cook-off is a cooking competition where the contestants each prepare dishes for judging either by a select group of judges or by the general public...
and ramp-eating contests, and is attended by several hundred people each year.
- The town of CosbyCosby, TennesseeCosby is an unincorporated community in Cocke County, Tennessee, United States. Although it is not a census-designated place, the ZIP Code Tabulation Area for the ZIP Code that serves Cosby had a population of 5,201 as of the 2000 U.S. Census...
, TennesseeTennesseeTennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, bordering Great Smoky Mountains National ParkGreat Smoky Mountains National ParkGreat Smoky Mountains National Park is a United States National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site that straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain. The border between Tennessee and North...
, has held the largest and one of the oldest ramp festivals in the United States, the "Cosby Ramp Festival," on the first weekend in May since 1954. The festival has played host to as many as 30,000 visitors in years past, has been attended by ex-President Harry Truman, and has featured such notable musical acts as Tennessee Ernie FordTennessee Ernie FordErnest Jennings Ford , better known as Tennessee Ernie Ford, was an American recording artist and television host who enjoyed success in the country and Western, pop, and gospel musical genres...
, Eddy ArnoldEddy ArnoldRichard Edward Arnold , known professionally as Eddy Arnold, was an American country music singer who performed for six decades. He was a so-called Nashville sound innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs on the Billboard country music charts, second only to George Jones. He sold more...
, Roy AcuffRoy AcuffRoy Claxton Acuff was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the King of Country Music, Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedown" format to the star singer-based format that helped make it internationally successful.Acuff...
, Bill MonroeBill MonroeWilliam Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader...
, Minnie PearlMinnie PearlSarah Ophelia Colley Cannon , known professionally as Minnie Pearl, was an American country comedienne who appeared at the Grand Ole Opry for more than 50 years and on the television show Hee Haw from 1969 to 1991.-Early life:Sarah Colley was born in Centerville, in Hickman County, Tennessee,...
, and Brenda LeeBrenda LeeBrenda Mae Tarpley , known as Brenda Lee, is an American performer who sang rockabilly, pop and country music, and had 37 US chart hits during the 1960s, a number surpassed only by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Ray Charles and Connie Francis...
. Besides the food, heritage music, dancing, and adulation of the ramp, each year a young woman is crowned "Maid of Ramps".
- The community of Flag Pond, TennesseeFlag Pond, TennesseeFlag Pond is an unincorporated community in Unicoi County, Tennessee. It is part of the Johnson City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City–Kingsport–Bristol, TN-VA Combined Statistical Area – commonly known as the "Tri-Cities" region.The...
, hosts its annual Ramp Festival on the second Saturday each May. The festival features a wide variety of ramp-inspired foods, and includes music from an assortment of Appalachian groups. Hundreds of people attend the festival each year.
- The community of WhitetopWhitetop, VirginiaWhitetop is an unincorporated community in Grayson County, Virginia, United States. It is currently the southern terminus of the Virginia Creeper Trail. Whitetop is named for nearby Whitetop Mountain, the second-tallest mountain in the State of Virginia, behind Mount Rogers....
, VirginiaVirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, holds its annual ramp festival the third weekend in May. It is sponsored by the Mount RogersMount RogersMount Rogers is the highest natural point in the state of Virginia, USA, with a summit elevation of above mean sea level. It lies in Grayson County and Smyth County, Virginia, about WSW of Troutdale, Virginia, within the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area and Jefferson National Forest.The...
volunteer fire departmentVolunteer fire departmentSee also the Firefighter article and its respective sections regarding VFDs in other countries.A volunteer fire department is a fire department composed of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction.The first organized force of...
and features local music from Wayne HendersonWayne HendersonWayne Henderson is an Irish former footballer who played as a goalkeeper.-Personal life:Born in Dublin, Henderson comes from a family of goalkeepers. His father Paddy played for Shamrock Rovers in the 1960s, and older brothers Dave and Stephen played with great success in the League of Ireland in...
and other bands, along with a barbecued chicken feast complete with fried potatoes and ramps and local green beans. A ramp-eating contest is held for children and adults.
- At the "Ramp It Up! Festival" held in the Native AmericanIndigenous peoples of the AmericasThe indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
outpost of Cherokee, North CarolinaCherokee, North CarolinaCherokee is a town in Swain County, North Carolina, USA, within the Qualla Boundary land trust. It is located in the Oconaluftee River Valley, near the intersection of U.S. Route 19 and U.S...
on the eastern side of Great Smoky Mountains National ParkGreat Smoky Mountains National ParkGreat Smoky Mountains National Park is a United States National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site that straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain. The border between Tennessee and North...
, ramps and rainbow troutRainbow troutThe rainbow trout is a species of salmonid native to tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead is a sea run rainbow trout usually returning to freshwater to spawn after 2 to 3 years at sea. In other words, rainbow trout and steelhead trout are the same species....
are the focus.
- An annual ramp convention in Haywood County, North CarolinaHaywood County, North Carolina-National protected areas:* Blue Ridge Parkway * Great Smoky Mountains National Park * Pisgah National Forest -Major Highways & Roads:* Interstate 40* U.S. Highway 19* U.S. Highway 23* U.S. Highway 74* U.S...
has drawn as many as 4,000 participants at a time since its inception circa 1925.
- Mason Dixon Park, located on the border of West Virginia and PennsylvaniaPennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
near Interstate 79Interstate 79Interstate 79 is an Interstate Highway in the eastern United States, designated from Interstate 77 in Charleston, West Virginia to Pennsylvania Route 5 and Pennsylvania Route 290 in Erie, Pennsylvania...
, hosts the annual "Mason-Dixon Ramp Festival", typically on the third weekend in April. This festival is unique in having a "ramp rally", where ramp lovers pulling Serro Scotty campers gather to celebrate both ramps and the Scotty, a 1950s marque of RVRecreational vehicleRecreational vehicle or RV is, in North America, the usual term for a Motor vehicle or trailer equipped with living space and amenities found in a home.-Features:...
which was manufactured in this area.
- In Bradford, PennsylvaniaBradford, PennsylvaniaBradford is a small city located in rural McKean County, Pennsylvania, in the United States 78 miles south of Buffalo, New York. Settled in 1823, Bradford was chartered as a city in 1879 and emerged as a wild oil boomtown in the Pennsylvanian oil rush in the late 19th century...
, on the first Saturday in May, an annual event called "Stinkfest" is held. Local food vendors, providing Chinese, German, Italian, and traditional American cuisine, offer their dishes with ramps included. Highlights include the dip tasting contest, the outhouseOuthouseAn outhouse is a small structure separate from a main building which often contained a simple toilet and may possibly also be used for housing animals and storage.- Terminology :...
races (where teams from local business build rolling outhouses and power them down the main thoroughfare), and appearances by local musical groups.
Conservation issues
In Canada, ramps are considered rare delicacies. Since the growth of ramps is not as widespread as in Appalachia and because of destructive human practices, ramps are a threatened species in Quebec.Law of Canada
The Canadian legal system has its foundation in the British common law system, inherited from being a former colony of the United Kingdom and later a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Quebec, however, still retains a civil system for issues of private law...
. A person may have ramps in his or her possession outside the plant's natural environment, or may harvest it for the purposes of personal consumption in an annual quantity not exceeding 200 grams of any of its parts or a maximum of 50 bulbs or 50 plants, provided that those activities do not take place in a park within the meaning of the National Parks Act
National Parks Act (Canada)
The National Parks Act is a Canadian federal law that regulates protection of natural areas of national significance.-National parks:The act enables Parks Canada to designate and maintain national parks and national parks reserves. Within these, additional wildland areas may be designated...
. The protected status also prohibits any commercial transactions of ramps; this prevents restaurants from serving ramps as is done in the United States. Failure to comply with these laws is punishable by a fine. However, the law does not always stop poachers, who find a ready market across the border in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
(especially in the Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
area), where ramps may be legally harvested and sold.
Ramps are considered a species of "special concern" for conservation in Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
, and Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
. They are also considered "commercially exploited" in Tennessee. Ramp festivals may encourage harvest in unsustainable quantities.
Other sources
- Core, Earl LemleyEarl Lemley CoreEarl Lemley Core was a botanist and botanical educator, researcher and author as well as a local West Virginia historian. He was founder of the Southern Appalachian Botanical Club and editor of its journal, Castanea, for thirty-five years. He was a teacher and professor at West Virginia...
(1945), “Ramps“, Castanea, 10:110-112.