{"id":8416,"date":"2014-03-31T19:43:40","date_gmt":"2014-03-31T19:43:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thesojournseries.com\/bavaria\/?p=8416"},"modified":"2014-09-22T20:40:21","modified_gmt":"2014-09-22T20:40:21","slug":"bavarian-barlauch-mothers-day-pesto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thesojournseries.com\/bavaria\/bavarian-barlauch-mothers-day-pesto\/","title":{"rendered":"Bavarian B\u00e4rlauch (Mother’s Day) Pesto"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"1-IMG_4884\"<\/a>The weather remembered Mother’s Day for those of us English Mums in Bavaria yesterday, it was truly glorious – and would have been criminal to stay indoors (I have spent Mother’s Day<\/a> here in Bavaria before, but let’s just say it wasn’t quite as relaxing as this one!!)!<\/p>\n

My boys spoilt me (as I am sure the 9 Year Old would have done too, but she had more pressing issues with a party to attend!) with lunch in a small bier garten (my choice as the weather was so nice!) where we sat under fat budded chestnut trees. Their generous leaves will provide patrons with plentiful shade in the not too distant future (hopefully!), and were planted long ago for that very purpose (along with the most important task of keeping the kegs cool)! \u00a0 Of course I mention this purely for those not from these parts (or who have yet to visit!) \u00a0– \u00a0but believe me, apart from the costumes in Max Liebermann’s beautiful “Munich BierGarten<\/a>” painting \u00a0(currently hanging in the Neues Pinakothek), not that much has changed about Munich on a sunny day!<\/p>\n

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To walk off lunch, we took a stroll along the Isar with its bike paths that follow the river all the way to the Englischer Gartens and beyond (something else we have yet to do!), where we appreciated the talents of perhaps the most exceptional Mother of them all (apart from my own of course!) at what must be one of her busiest times – Spring! \u00a0 She had also laid on a velvety carpet of Wild Garlic (which we could smell a mile off!) and which kept the Small Boy happy in his foraging capacity! We first picked this when we lived in Denmark, where it was quite common to see people collecting it by the bag full at this time of year. \u00a0A friend of mine used to make the recipe below with it – if the garlic has yet to flower though, do only pick a leaf or two from a plant before moving on to another, or you risk it not growing again the following year!<\/p>\n

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And when we got home, this is what the forager made with his haul (with a little help of course!)… Perfect on pasta, or mixed into hummous, to liven up soups or to just spread straight onto fresh bread – and don’t think you will need stacks of peppermints to hand for afterwards – I can vouch that the after “aroma” is not as strong as expected!<\/span><\/p>\n

Quick B\u00e4rlauch\u00a0Pesto<\/strong>: Wash a large handful of wild garlic leaves, pat them dry with a tea-towel and place into a food processor. \u00a0Add a good grinding of salt and pepper, a generous squeeze of lemon and around 80g of freshly grated parmesan, then blitz for around 30 seconds. Slowly drizzle in 100mls of Olive oil until you reach the desired consistency. Keep in the fridge for two to three days – \u00a0if indeed it lasts that long! \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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PS. Ten points if you spotted the tiny spider in the top picture, I didn’t notice it when I was taking it!<\/p>\n

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