Red Apron ramps up with pickles

What: Grampa’s Pickled Ramps Why: They’re delicious, a regional specialty, and they also mark the start of a new venture for the Red Apron.

“We’ve been talking about starting making our own pickles and preserves for about five years,” says Jennifer Heagle.

She and co-owner Jo-Ann Laverty began close to home, heading to Heagle’s parents’ 60-acre wooded property near Osgoode to harvest wild ramps in the mud in early May. Laverty then washed, trimmed and brined the ramps (also known as wild garlic or wild leeks) in a delicious mixture of cider vinegar, honey, pickling spices and rosemary, making a sweet-savoury treat that’s a delicious addition to a charcuterie board — “or you could chop them finely and drizzle over a salad or garnish soup,” says Laverty. Use the brine in vinaigrettes. How much: $14.95 for a 500-mL jar When: The 36 prized jars went on the shelf just a few weeks ago. What’s next: “We’re going to experiment as different things come into season,” says Laverty. She’s just made a low-sugar strawberry-rhubarb jam, using strawberries from Rideau Pines and rhubarb from four different sources, including a staff member’s backyard. By mid-July they’ll have bread-and-butter pickles and a dill pickle relish that would be fabulous on burgers.

“The idea is to be more local year-round.” Where: The Red Apron, 564 Gladstone Ave. More: redapron.ca