The Blog Tech and I headed out early yesterday to go to our first ramp festival. In case you are not familiar with ramps, here is what wiki has to say about them:
Allium tricoccum
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Allium tricoccum (commonly known as
ramp,
[3] ramps,
spring onion,
ramson,
wild leek,
[3] wood leek,
[3] and
wild garlic) is an early spring
vegetable, a
perennial wild onion with a strong
garlic-like odor and a pronounced onion flavor.
[4] Ramps are found across much of the eastern
United States and eastern
Canada, from
Alabama to
Nova Scotia to
Manitoba to
Oklahoma. They are popular in the cuisines of the rural uplands of the
American South, and also in the Canadian province of
Quebec. Ramps also have a growing popularity in upscale restaurants throughout North America.
We love ramps in our part of the world and when you have to buy them in markets, they are around $15.00 a pound. If you know where they grow and forage for them, they grow like weeds. Just before we arrived at the festival, we saw signs along the side of the road for ramp hot dogs and ramp hamburgers. We made a beeline to this place. Bob's Hot Dogs. A little gem in the hills of West Virginia.
This is the best hot dog spot we have ever found.
Click on any of the pics for a better look. Anyone want a Viagra Dog?
Though Bob was a little chubby, he didn't look like he ate this very often.
This is the ramp menu.
Bob offers a lot of food for a very small place.
And he has a lot of fun naming his food.
This is quite a popular spot. It was packed by the time we left.
Check out the sign below the shake glass.
The locals love him.
Which dog would you order?
What do you think this is?
Ramp jam and we bought some.
The biscuit menu.
Inside Bob's. And what did we order?
A ramp dog.
A ramp burger.
Ramp homefries.
And of course, someone got the ramp milkshake! I tasted it and it was actually very good up front with a rather, rampy aftertaste.
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| Bob's wife makes homemade ramp bread. We bought this fresh out of the oven. |
I will show you the festival tomorrow.
Comments
I wonder why we never have anything like this over here. We have another wild onion growing here, Allium ursinum, that could be used in much the same way. It spreads like crazy so it's nothing one wants in the garden :-) I have to admit that I most likely never would try the ramp milkshake though :-) :-) :-)
Looking forward to see photos from the festival!
Have a great day!
Christer.
I need to drop you a note.. I'll do it tomorrow when I am more awake.
:)
http://awesomesontheroad.blogspot.com/2014/04/ramps.html
Ramps in potatoes are a must for anyone to try!!
Just told Captain about this place, looks like we're heading there tomorrow!