My wind-blown mother and I had wild onions for lunch when I visited her on Saturday. We went down to the creek on her property where we had spotted them two weeks ago, she carried the pan, I carried the shovel, and we went home with a bunch of onions.
This is a time-honored tradition in our family - I remember family get-togethers when growing up that centered around wild onion season. Someone (usually my mom and her sister), would drive to wherever the wild onions had been spotted and dig up enough to feed the family. The onions would be transported to my grandparents' house, where the onions were cleaned, chopped and cooked, along with scrambled eggs, fried potatoes and my grandmother's great biscuits.
I wasn't crazy about wild onions back then (they were green, after all, and what kid likes green stuff?), but I've developed a taste for them, so long as they are scrambled up with eggs. But I loved the family gatherings, and my grandmother's fried potatoes and biscuits!
If you are from Oklahoma and eat wild onions, it's a pretty sure bet that you have some Native American blood, since this is first and foremost a Native American dish and tradition. Wild onions come into season in March and early April in Oklahoma, and are found near creeks and ditches, where water gathers. A wild onion enthusiast can spot a clump of them from yards away.
I'm not sure if our wild onions are the same as the Tennessee/North Carolina ramps, but they may be...
Anyway, if you ever have a chance to chow down on some wild onions, scrambled eggs, fried potatoes and biscuits, don't pass it up - Even if you don't have Native American blood!
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