Wild Garlic Chimichurri
Yay, it's that time of the year again: wild garlic season! In early spring, just before everything nature comes back to lush, green life, wild garlic starts to grow on the edges of the forest. Sam doesn't let me harvest my own straight from the forest. He's too scared that I will poison us, confusing it with the very similar looking lilly of the valley (yes, that, but mainly the fox tapeworm and the general cleanliness thing - Sam). But I managed to pick some up at the market and decided that it's the perfect ingedient to give classic, South American chimichurri an interesting twist.
I spent some time in South America, doing an internship in Santiago de Chile as a student. While I found Chile to be very different from the stereotypical image one might have of Latin America (warm-temperatures all year round, some of the best pronounced Spanish you've ever heard), it is a great place worth visiting for it's culture, people, food and nature. As a little bonus, it's also very safe and accessible.
On a weekend trip to Argentina with my friend Lara, we had lunch at an Asador, an Argentinean Steakhouse. Amongst huge amounts of grilled meats, they also served homemade chimichurri, an uncooked sauce made with lots of chopped parsely, minced garlic, olive oil, oregano and vinegar. I usually substitute half of the vinegar with lemon juice to add tang. This time, I replaced garlic cloves with wild garlic.
Recipe
Serves 4
1 cup of parsley, leaves picked
1 bunch of wild garlic
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 red chilli, finely chopped
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1 level tsp coarse salt, black pepper to taste
Pound the parsely and wild garlic with a mortar and pestle until there is no visible structure remaining from the leaves. Note that a blender doesn't really work here, as it quicky processes everything into a puree. You don't want puree, what you're after is a silky, loose texture with bite. Add the olive oil, vinegar and lemon juice, stirring with your pestle, followed by the chopped chilli, oregano and salt. Season with pepper to taste.
Serve with your favourite grilled cut of meat. We had US Entrecote and a side salad with it.