Every year I get asked what to do with these garlic scapes we sell. I love them so much I tend to snack on them fresh, enjoying that snap and hot bite that they give. But admittedly, that gets old and it is advantageous to have other options that add to your arsenal and add to the time you have to eat them. 

Preserving food has been big in my mind for a few years now. That’s been the case ever since hitting wall after wall trying to source seasonal items myself, rather than just doing the easy thing and buying them from the store. I love being able to gather garlic once a year, dry it and have it for whenever we need. Scapes, however, are more fleeting and are only around for a couple of weeks. I have friends who freeze them to save them, and others who have attempted canning them in oil with varying results. None of these seems to really capture the freshness of what I like about scapes. 

Then it occurred to me: pickling. Pickling often brings a fresh, zesty zip to whatever you are brining. In this case, the bite of the vinegar ought to go hand in hand with the spicy bite of the hot garlic flavor. 

I looked about the old interwebs for a spell before simplifying my findings to a recipe I believe complements my experience making corned beef in the shop. One ingredient I would suggest to try, although I didn’t have it ready for this attempt, would have been celery salt. Celery salt is becoming my new favorite ingredient because in butchery, it replaces the cure salt, or manufactured pink nitrate. Celery salt causes the nitrates to occur naturally and is naturally occurring itself. In my opinion, it makes digestion just a little easier than the traditional cure salt. 

We aren’t pickling meat here, but I have noted that celery salt tends to leave an enhanced sweet flavor when used. I hope to try this recipe again in the near future with celery salt instead of the kosher salt, just to satisfy my curiosity. If you want to try it yourself though, I would use about three to five teaspoons in place of the one tablespoon of kosher. If it comes out salty, just add less next time. Like I said, I have yet to try, but let’s find out together. 

If I am to lean on my experience with corned beef again, I would suggest allowing the scapes to wait as long as you can. When it comes to pickling, time is your friend. I’m sure there is a limit, but as long as I have ever pushed it, leaving pickled anything  in your fridge as long as you can wait always pays off with a deeper pickly flavor.

The way out here, we like snacks, vinegar, garlic and pickled anything. Whether you need something for a late night snack or a topping for a burger or steak, these will leave you with a spicy crunch well past the spring season they’re known for.