Garlic blossoms by Erich Stekovics, mild and crisp
Garlic blossoms by Erich Stekovics are the plump, still-closed buds of wild garden garlic, hand-picked and pickled in fruit vinegar. They taste significantly rounder than a raw clove and are as crisp on the fork as small olives.
Garlic blossoms are a special type of pickled garlic from Stekovics in the northern Burgenland. The unopened flower buds are harvested, then layered by hand into jars and marinated in fruit vinegar with sugar and salt. A 250-milliliter jar contains 120 grams of the green and white buds.
Spicy, crisp, and surprisingly delicate
Small, plump, and green-white, the buds sit in the jar, and at first glance, most people mistake them for capers.
They feel firm between the fingers, and when you bite into them, they give a bright snap before the inside softens. The garlic note comes through clearly but without any bite, while the fruit vinegar wraps around it with its mild acidity. What remains is a subtle spiciness that does not linger on your breath beyond the evening.
Harvested before the flower opens
In early summer, the garlic pushes up a stalk with a flower bud forming at its end.
Once it opens, it becomes woody and is no longer suitable for the jar, so a window of just a few days determines the entire harvest. During this time, Stekovics walks through the rows every day and cuts each bud individually. This also benefits the plant, as it redirects its energy into the bulb underground rather than the flower.
Why the bud is milder than the clove
The pungency of garlic only develops when a clove is damaged and two separate substances within it meet.
The bud remains whole in the jar—it is neither cut nor pressed—and therefore lacks that sharp edge from the start. Add to this the fruit vinegar, which rounds out the flavor without masking it. What remains is the taste of garlic in its friendliest form, strong enough to be recognized.
Only hard-neck garlic produces a stalk
By no means does every garlic plant push up a flower stalk; only the hard-neck varieties do that.
The soft-neck varieties, which can be braided, do not develop them at all. Wild garden garlic, however, produces them reliably, and since the shoot needs to be trimmed anyway, this rarity is created from a byproduct of the harvest. From a bed intended to produce bulbs, Stekovics harvests a second product this way.
Like olives on an antipasti platter
On a board with ham, cheese, and white bread, simply place the open jar in the middle.
Halved, the buds can be tossed over a tomato salad or added to pasta with oil, where they replace fresh garlic while remaining significantly milder. They are just as suitable for cold roast meat or on a piece of cream cheese bread as they are on the rim of a robust cocktail. They show their spiciest side next to grilled food, because smoke and garlic have always gone well together. If you want to season a soup, add two of them just before serving and let them infuse.
A jar that answers questions
Unopened, the supply stays good for well over a year if kept cool and dark, without losing its crunch.
After opening, place the jar in the refrigerator and ensure that everything remains covered by the brine. Other pickled items from Stekovics can be found under rarities, alongside the garlic cloves and the salt pickles.
Contents 250 ml – Drained weight 120 g
