what's this crunchy, delicious part of garlic scapes called?

I have cooked with scapes a few times in my life, but I must have mostly ignored the flower part and focused on the green. Today I cut open the flower (am I even right that this is a flower?), and out starting raining delicious, crunchy, clean-garlic tasting sprouty things. I don't think it would be technically right to call these garlic sprouts, so what are they?






Whatever they are, they made a fantastic garnish atop olive oil poached halibut with favas and first-dig tiny potatoes:

Kennyz wrote:I have cooked with scapes a few times in my life, but I must have mostly ignored the flower part and focused on the green.

Funny, I spent a whole summer a few years back thinking that part was the part that I was supposed to use. I only used the flower and just saved the green for stock. I've since learned to use it all.

Yes, that is the flower. A farmer told me that "scape" basically means "leafless flower stem". If you let the scape keep growing in the garlic (which you're not supposed to do), you'll evenutally wind up with this growing from the top of the scape:

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/4617066-lg.jpg

Best,
Michael

Kenny and I were discussing this over (awesome) lunch this afternoon which liberally included garlic. My guess is that the 'sprouts' are the stamens of the garlic flower:



These would make them the male parts of the flower, contrasting with saffron, which is one of the female parts (stigma). I say this only because of the shape, however, so they could very well be pistils / stigmas, except it would be unusual for that many to pop out of the immature flower. 'Saffron of garlic' would have more of an appeal than 'garlic schlongs' at any rate.

A better question is, if they're tasty, shouldn't they already have a specific culinary name?

Santander wrote:A better question is, if they're tasty, shouldn't they already have a specific culinary name?

I believe you answered your own question already:

Santander wrote:'garlic schlongs'

I think someone needs to call Larousse and Webster ASAP.

I received garlic scapes in this week's produce box. Never having heard of them before, but being game for anything garlic, I ate a couple raw and used the rest in a saute. But there were no flowers attached! I feel cheated.

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:I received garlic scapes in this week's produce box. Never having heard of them before, but being game for anything garlic, I ate a couple raw and used the rest in a saute. But there were no flowers attached! I feel cheated.

yesterday at the GCM, one of the vendors was selling green garlic. It's late enough in the season that the bulbs are nearing full-size, which means that the stem is huge (maybe as much as 4 feet long) and the flowers have matured just enough to have those crunchy, delicious stamen (stamens?) inside.

I was my usual pain-in-the-ass-shopper, so I asked a worker if he could cut these down to a more manageable size. I wanted the bulbs and the flowers, with maybe a little of the scape attached. He could throw the remaining 3 feet of plastic-textured green into the compost heap, as far as I was concerned. He told me he could do one better: let me snap off as many flowers as I want from the entire stock, and take them at no charge. Chefs and customers, he said, never want those things. The vendor often just removes them prior to market, but that hadn't bothered that morning. He had no idea they had any culinary purpose, and asked me what in the world I was planning to do with them, so I cracked one open and had him taste the stamen(s). He seemed as enthralled with the flavor and texture as I am. I usually just use them as garnish with fish or salad. Or just to snack on.