Ramps

i have been harassing one of my produce vendors for spring ramps, and today he came through. ramps are sometimes called a wild leek and are celebrated in east coast states like west Virginia and the Carolinas with numerous festivals as they are one of the first spring vegetables. they have an extremely "garlicky" flavor and are very aromatic. the ramps in the picture actually came from northern California and i am anxiously awaiting their Oregon season. killer is- these bad boys costed the restaurant over $20/#. that's right, lets take a moment to think about what we can buy for 20 dollars a pound.... live Maine lobster, dry aged rib-eye steaks, kobe beef, "springer" salmon, kumamoto oysters, venison osso bucco, wild and fresh diver scallops, ahi tuna, bluefin tuna, etc, etc, etc. honestly i felt robbed, i wanted to return them, i was pissed. then we cooked some, this is a few of them simply sauteed in butter with a bit of salt. they are utterly delicious. they were really hard to clean (i weighed one piece of dirt that costed me $.75) and look like skinny green onions, but the leaves are totally edible. i can still taste the garlic taste in my mouth and i ate them about 5 hours ago. not to mention my hands still smell like them. gotta love it.