A savory bread – finally it’s bear leek season!

Hey there!

Finally one of my favourite herbs has come into season. This special herb just screams spring to me. It is delicious in pasta sauces, mixed into salads or as I am going to show you today in a delightful savoury bread.

You might have already guessed it, I am talking about bear leek, ramsons or wild garlic. I’m actually not sure about the most common name yet as the German word for it happens to be Bärlauch I’m going to use the word bear leek from now on, since it is the exact translation. Let me know if you happen to know the exact term.

I’ve been looking for bear leak all around the shops over the past weeks. They’ve actually started to stock up their shelves with numerous bear leak flavoured products. There are bear leek Spätzle or even bear leek cream cheese, yet I just couldn’t find the actual fresh stuff. I obviously could have just gone for a walk to the forest and I would have most definitely found some. If you have ever experienced Switzerland in bear leek season you’d know that the air starts to smell like this slightly spicy herb as soon as you make your first step into the forest. Since I have been pretty busy recently I just didn’t get around to go on a walk to the forest.

As most Saturdays I somehow end up near some kind of organic food shop or like today next to a huge vegetable booth on a small farmers market. I actually discovered it by accident while waiting for the train though since I had some time to pass I decided to go up the strange little farmers market that seemed like it had just come up out of nowhere. The vegetable booth of the little market was just humongous. An absolute dream!

At fist I just spotted the fruit area where I bought a strange little orange fruit I had never ever seen before. So I got myself one of the little orange things and I was going to keep walking however then I walked around the corner and discovered the vegetable part of the market. And what did I spot, my long awaited bear leak, a whole heap of it, just what I had been looking for over the past weeks.

After buying a bunch of bear leek I obviously had to create a recipe as soon as I got home hence I came up with this delightful savoury bear leek bread. The bread is absolutely delicious on its own, yet you could also turn it into a delicious sandwich or have it on the side of a soup or stew.

The recipe down below makes a rather small loaf of bread since there are only two people living in my household. Yet if you happen to want to cater for a bigger crowd just double or triple the recipe and adjust the baking time.

So now go on, bake this delight.

• 70g buckwheat flour
• 95g spelt flour
• 100g potatoes
• 10g yeast
• 1dl water
• 15 wild garlic
• 1tbs flaxseed
• 1tbs pine nuts
• 1/2tsp salt

1. Boil your potatoes until soft and tender.
2. Meanwhile finely chop up your wild garlic and add the yeast to 1dl of luke-warm water.
3. When your potatoes are done puree them with a food processor.
4. Add all ingredients into a bowl and knead until your dough is smooth.
5. Cover your dough with a towel and let it rise for about an hour, then shape it into a log and cover it again for around 30 minutes.
6. While your bread is rising preheat your oven to 200°C then bake it for around 25 to 30 minutes.

Voila you just baked a delicious, slightly spicy bread, so perfect for spring time. Enjoy it alongside soup, a nice salad or even just on its own. It is delicious no matter what.

Enjoy your Sunday

Bisous