A ramp is a wild leek that grows in forested mountain terrain. It's illegal to harvest them from national parks – but the pungent spring vegetable is renowned by both Appalachians and Koreans. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
If you've never seen or eaten a ramp, let me describe them for you. They kind of look like scallions with more bulbous roots and soft, broad leaves, and their intense garlicky flavor packs a punch that can linger in your breath and body odor for hours. They emerge from the forest floor in the Appalachian mountains in early spring, one of the first edible greens to appear on the landscape. They're a beloved cultural staple in West Virginia, where small towns across the state boast ramp festivals and feasts throughout the spring
They grow here in Virginia, too, and elsewhere in the Eastern U.S. They've become sought after by chefs everywhere from Baltimore to New York City. I grew up eating them in soup beans and fried taters with a side of cornbread.
This humble allium was at the center of a recent court case in Harrisonburg where an international love for wild leeks ran afoul of federal law.
Three friends, originally from Korea and now living in Virginia, took a trip to the Shenandoah National Park in April. They saw a patch of ramps in the woods and recognized them as nearly identical to the wild leeks they love from their home country. They picked a bunch to take home and pickle, not knowing that their actions were illegal – until a park ranger caught them.
I spoke with one of the women after a court hearing in June, where she pled guilty to the federal crime of "possessing, destroying, injuring, defacing, removing, digging, or disturbing" plants in a national park. She talked about her case but declined to do a recorded interview. The 66-year-old said she hadn't known this was a crime, and would never do it again.
Shenandoah Park Ranger Melissa Moses told WMRA that it's illegal to remove plants from a national park because of their core mission.
MELISSA MOSES: It's kind of this dual mandate, and it's to preserve, unimpaired, the natural and cultural resources in the values of the Park Service for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations.
The superintendent of each national park in the country does have the authority to publish a "compendium" of edible items that can be collected in limited quantities for personal consumption. In Shenandoah, that includes a gallon per person per day of things like morel mushrooms, raspberries, and black walnuts, and a bushel of things like apples and pears. But not ramps. Park Botanist Wendy Cass explains:
WENDY CASS: When you think about what is allowed to be collected on the compendium, it's the fruiting bodies of plants. … With ramp harvest, they're cutting the leaves off of them or they're digging up the entire bulb, so they're removing the entire plant. They're not leaving anything behind to allow the plant to continue to grow.
Besides ramps, people also dig up wildflowers, nettles, ferns, and a variety of other forbidden flora. Park rangers do have discretion as to when they charge someone with a crime for removing plants, versus issuing a warning. When they do charge someone –
MOSES: When we seize the plants, or take the plants … we see what can be saved. That's our goal, what can we save and replant? So I'll take it to Wendy's office and she'll help assess it. We'll sort it – this is savable, this isn't. And there's a cost value for each of those. It might be looking at the market value … but then also the amount of time it takes us to process all that evidence … and then the time to go out and plant that, as well.
CASS: In a ramps case, we take them out, typically, the next day and get them back in the ground. … But then there are additional corrections that have to happen based on the anticipated survival … and then another correction that's added that's based on ecological and aesthetic damage.
Cass then writes up a memo asking the court to assess a certain dollar amount of restitution. The court-ordered restitution then goes into a special account that the park staff can request to use for certain projects, such as planting trees or putting up signs to prevent future damage.
The woman who pled guilty in June was ordered to pay $760 in restitution.
I was curious to know more about this intercultural connection over ramps, so I visited the Korean-inspired restaurant Mashita in Harrisonburg. Chef and Owner Mikey Reisenberg was born in Seoul, adopted by an American family, and raised in the Shenandoah Valley.
[kitchen bustle]
MIKEY REISENBERG: My first experience with ramps, I believe, was with my great-aunt Dort … I tried them and I was like, "oh my god, that's too spicy, that's too much!"
He came to love them, though, while working at the Joshua Wilton House in college and discovering ramps that were grilled or used in sauces. In traditional Korean cuisine, he's seen them used as a garnish, in a semi-raw or blanched salad, and in kimchi.
REISENBERG: So what we like to do with ramps is we like to convert them into kimchi and ferment the ramps. Because wild leeks and ramps are strong, you know, there's different ways to either play into that strength or to try and mellow that strength out.
Mashita's ramps are all foraged by their catering director. Reisenberg says it took them about seven years to find good foraging spots.
REISENBERG: It is kind of a closely guarded secret. … There's two directions. We go east, we go west, and outside of that, we stay out of national parks!
Also on their spring menu? Ramp aiolis, marinades, salt, and pesto.
REISENBERG: Ramps or anything, if it's a new thing to you but it is highly coveted in a certain region – give it a try. Don't be afraid of it.
Especially when it's something that two mountain peoples from opposite hemispheres both agree on.
