DEAR DAME EVELYN , I was at a farmers market over the weekend with my girlfriend. (She really, really gets off on all the fresh produce, incidentally; when we get back to her place we ... well, you can imagine!) At one stand I noticed several heaps of what looked like big scallions. I asked the guy what they were and he said, these are leeks, those are spring onions, those others are green garlic. I nodded and kept my mouth shut so he wouldn't think I was an idiot, but I wanted to ask him whether they are as similar as they look and whether they're interchangeable. I bought my girlfriend some green garlic, but when we got it home it stank up the whole house – ruined the mood, you might say. Now we don't know what to do. Can you help, or should I be writing to Andrea?

Breathless

Cheri, So the love nest reeks of garlic! Such a pity. Americans are so touchy about smells, if you will indulge me for a moment while I cast aspersions on the national character. This is Deodorant Nation! You seem to have forgotten that the nose is an erogenous zone; remember that Napoleon advised his beloved Josephine not to wash for two weeks, as he would return home at the end of that time from one of his tedious military campaigns.

But I am digressing in several directions here, only one of which leads toward Andrea. Dame Evelyn is not as utterly lacking in sympathy as you might suppose, for she knows that green garlic is rather ... pungent. A quick solution is to make green garlic soup. Chop up the green garlic (you need six or eight bunches, the more the merrier) and a leek or two – having first trimmed and cleaned it all – and sauté gently in a tablespoon or two of butter in a soup pot until the bits are soft. Add two or three medium Yukon Gold potatoes (any potatoes will do, really), peeled and cut into chunks, and several cups of stock, or a combination of stock and water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes or so, until the potatoes are cooked through. You can serve the soup this way (having first seasoned it) or puree it in a blender or with a wand. Dame Evelyn, being a puritan – and a wand queen – prefers the latter.

Pungently, E. G.-S.