ABSTRACT
Nevertheless, wild leek was characterized by Euell Gibbons, in his 1962 classic Stalking the Wild Asparagus, as the sweetest and best of the North American onion bulbs, and it is considered to be a gastronomic delight by those who have acquired a taste for it. High-end restaurants often incorporate wild leek into expensive creations, and this gourmet vegetable has considerable snob appeal. Wild leek bulbs were eaten raw or dried for winter use by Iroquois and other Native American tribes in Minnesota and Wisconsin. North American Indians also commonly baked wild leek in ashes. In Appalachia, wild leek is commonly fried in bacon grease along with potatoes, and served with beans, cornbread, and bacon. In Canada, wild leek is concentrated in heavily populated areas of southern Ontario and Quebec, where habitat destruction has occurred, endangering survival of the plant. The possibility of cultivating wild leek is a good idea, because the plant is popular, and the wild supply is limited.
