Raw Ramps and Biscuits

Ramps — wild leeks that grow in Appalachian forests each spring — were more than food, they were a ritual. From April through early May, workers packed several raw ramps and cold biscuits for lunch. The ramps were intensely strong — part garlic, part onion, part something wilder and more primal. Your breath would smell for days, but everyone ate them, so everyone smelled the same. Communal eating at its most basic.

Ingredients

• 1 bunch fresh ramps (wild leeks), foraged or from a farmers market — bulbs and leaves
• Cold biscuits (see Cold Biscuits with Sorghum recipe)
• Salt (optional)

Directions

1. Wash ramps thoroughly, removing any grit or dead leaves.
2. For the lunch pail: pack 4–6 whole ramps, unwashed leaves and all. They need no preparation.

Pack alongside cold biscuits.

1. At the work site: bite into the white bulb of the ramp. The juice will make your eyes water.
2. Chase immediately with a chunk of cold biscuit to absorb the burn and intensity.
3. The aggressive sharpness of raw ramp against bland, dense biscuit is the authentic experience.
4. Optional: Ramps can also be quickly pan-fried in bacon grease with a pinch of salt for a gentler flavor, though the mountain tradition was to eat them fully raw.
5. Note: ramps smell intensely for 1–3 days afterward. This was socially acceptable in mountain communities because everyone ate them.

Notes

Mountain folks believed ramps thinned the blood after a heavy winter of salt meat and beans. Modern science suggests they were right — the sulfur compounds and vitamins helped bodies transition to spring work. Ramp festivals are still held throughout Appalachia. Available at farmers markets in April and May.