Garlic plant www.botanikus.de

Garlic field

Garlic is one of the most popular spices in the world, andwher­ever it was intro­duced to, it met enthu­siastic ap­proval. It is re­portedthat in an­cient Egypt, the workers who had to build the great pyramids were fedtheir daily share of garlic, and the Bible mentions garlic as a food theHebrews en­joyed during their sojourn in Egypt (seepome­granate). See alsoonionon the cooking of ancient Meso­potamia, where garlic played an eminent rôle.

In Europe, garlic has been a common spice since the days of the Roman Empire,and it was ex­tensively used from India to East Asia even before the Euro­peansarrived there. After the Age of Ex­plora­tion, its use spread rapidly to Africaand both Americas. Curi­ously enough, in our days Northern Euro­peans seem to bethe only ones who look on it with sus­picion because of its strong smell, whichis some­times felt unpleasant.

Some cuisines are fond of raw garlic. In parts of Austria, salads (based on lettuce) are preparedwith vinegar, oil and minced garlic. The more Northern practise of rubbing the salad bowl with ahalved garlic clove (and dis­carding the clove after­wards) is generally frowned upon, and thetastypumpkin seed oil is preferred over bland refined vegetable oils.

Raw garlic appears in quite amultitude of Mediterranean sauces. Prominent examples are the Provençalspecialtyaïoli, basically a mayonnaise based onolive oil and enriched with garlic; furthermore, Greekskordalia [σκορδαλιά]a paste made from cooked potatoes and raw garlic, and Turkishçaçık, a refreshing soup madefrom plain yoghurt, shredded cucumber, garlic andpeppermint leaves. A similar, but thicker,saucy product is known astsatsiki (also spelledtzatziki [τζατζίκι])in Greece, where it is often served to barbecued lambsouvlaki [σουβλάκι].Many appetizers from West Asia (e. g.,hummus, seesesame) contain some fresh garlic.Occasionally, minced garlic is spread along the edge of Italianpizza (seeoregano).

A number of salads or appetizers with raw garlic is found in Georgia, where it is usually ground to a paste togetherwith walnut and herbs likeparsley,celery orcoriander. Such a paste may be spread over fried aubergine slices(badrijani [ბადრიჯანი],often served with freshpomegranate seeds) or may be mixed with vinegar to yielda dressing for tomato and cucumber salad(k’it’ri-k’amidoris salata [კიტრი-კამიდორის სალათა],usually topped withparsley,coriander and/orbasil leaves).

Garlic plants in a garden

In China, raw garlic appears in many salads, for examplesuan ni huang-gua [蒜泥黄瓜],crunchy cucumber cubes with a dressing of vinegar,sesame oil and garlic,topped withcoriander leaves.Yet similar appetizers (also employing driedchiles, chile oil or soy sauce) areprepared with many more vegetables (string beans, steamed leaves) or glass noodles. A non-vegetarian exampleishong-you ji-si [红油鸡丝],thin strips of boiled chicken breast dressed with chile oil and garlic.A mixture of finely chopped garlic andsesame oil(diluted with bland vegetable oil to taste) is often served as a dip on thetable.

Garlic plants in a garden

Remotely similar but rather spicy and salty snacks with raw garlic, often entire garlic cloves, are found in the highlyoriginal cuisine of the Newar people in Nepal. In ad­dition to the usual set of Indianspices (e. g.,fenu­greek,cumin,andfennel), the Newari have a rather un­typical fond­ness forraw garlic andginger, which appear to­gether with largeamounts of fresh or driedchiles in cold salad-like foods thatare enjoyed during the day, together with dry beaten rice and a bottle of beer:Choyela orchoila [छोयला orछोईला](barbecued buffalo meat dressed with dried chile, fresh ginger, garlic and an aromatic localmustard oil),satu mhicha [सतु म्हिचा](small pockets of buffalo stomach stuffed with bone marrow),musya palu [मुस्या पालु](green soy beans with sliced garlic and ginger) and the strangejala [जला],small pieces of boiled buffalo skin (with some meat attached) seasoned with garlic, chile and dark toasted fenugreek seeds.Another example is the lean raw buffalo mincekochila [कोचिला]mixed with mustard oil, which is usually served with loads of raw garlic cloves.

Vampyres have no chance in Vietnam, particularly around Hanoi [Hà Nội]: Freshlygrated garlic is served in liberal amounts to spring rolls and soups inNorthern Vietnam (seeVietnamese cinnamon for anaccount of the Hanoi style beef soup). The latter is an example demonstratingthe subtle effect that can be achieved by adding grated or squeezed raw garlicto a dish that already contains cooked garlic.

Garlic fresh after the harvest

Young garlic plants

Raw garlic may also be pickled in vinegar oroliveoil. Since some of garlic’s aroma is ex­tracted by the liquid, and since little celldamage occurs before the enzymes get dys­functional, pickled garlicis usually very mild. Herbal vinegar (seedill) iscommonly made with one or two garlic cloves per liter vinegar.

A unique garlic flavouring is the Tibetangarlic water,gog-chu [སྒོག་ཆུ་].This consists of very slightly crushed garlic cloves that are left to macerate with water,sometimes in combination with driedSichuan pepper. A fewdrops of vinegar may be added for pre­servation. The water ac­quires only a mild garlicflavour and may be sprinkled over salads; in Ladakh, it was also served to the national noodle dish,momo [མོག་མོག་](seeSichuan pepper).

Usage of fried or cooked garlic is, however, much more common and found in almost every cuisine of the world. On heating, thepungency and strong odour get lost and the aroma becomes more subtle and lessdominant, harmonizing perfectly withginger,pepper,chiles and manyother spices. An interesting example from Northern Italy isbagna cauda, a sauce made by cooking garlic cloves inolive oil very slowly, adding pungent fermentedanchovies (acciughe) and puréing. In Piedmont,bagna cauda is served as a dip with raw or slightlycooked vegetables. Another Italian recipe depending almost entirely ongarlic are thespaghetti aglio olio e peperoncini,boiledpasta with garlic and driedchilesshortly fried inolive oil.

Garlic fresh after the harvest

Different Asian cui­sines make dif­ferent use of this very ver­satile spice. ManyIndian recipes add garlic in an early phase, and it is fried for a long timeto­gether withonion and other spices to pro­vide thebasicmasala; in the fi­nished dish, the garlic taste is nolonger dis­cernible, but has merged totally with the other com­po­nents. Incon­trast, although Indo­nesian and even Chinese stir-fries usually start withfrying a few cloves of garlic, a faint garlic aroma persists until servingbe­cause of the much shorter cooking time. In Indon­esian cuisine, mixtures basedon minced garlic,ginger andchiles are frequently used to season meat piecesbefore roasting or grilling (seelesser galangalefor details and see alsolemon grass for the spicepastebumbu).

In Thai cuisine, it is common to fry garlic slices in very hot oil to acrisp texture, and decorate foods with these brown, crisp garlic slices.Yet other Thai recipes avoid the frying of garlic but prefer gentlesimmering for spicy soups or creamy curries. Garlic is also anessential component of itscurry pastes (especially the greenone), seecoconut. Similar customis found in Cambodia, where pastes of garlic, together withchiles,lemon grass orginger, are added to soups or stews.

Mural in Gilroy, the Californiangarlic capital

Gilroy Garlic Festival

In the south­ern states of the US, garlic is also very popular. The small townof Gilroy (in California, not far from San Francisco) claims to be thegarliccapital of the world; although not quite true, the claim seems plausible toevery visitor in end of July, when the annualgarlic festival is held andgarlic recipes are evaluated — allegedly, they even servegarlic ice cream (see alsovanilla).The Gilroy area is also the main garlic producer for the US market, as caneasily be smelled at harvest time. There has been the saying that steakscan be marinated in the air of Gilroy. That’s clearly exaggerated, but notnecessarily much so.

Gilroy mainly produces dehydrated garlic, which is more popular in the USA than in other countries. Dried garlic, however, also makes an appearance in East Africancooking, and it is the characteristic flavour in the Georgian table condimentsvanuri marili [სვანური მარილი] (Svanetian salt),a coarse ochre powder made from salt, garlic,coriander,dill,savory,cumin,blue fenugreek and a dash ofchile.

Garlic after the harvest

Garlic drying after harvest in Nepal

Garlic consump­tion is alsohigh in Central America, where the bulbs are, among others, used forMexicanmole (seepaprika) andsalsa (seelong coriander).

Garlic is much less popular in today’s Europe, where it is used only with care,except the Southern European countries. Northerners seem to loathe the faintgarlic odour that is emitted by garlic eaters even many hours after the garlicconsume. There is no perfect remedy against it, but eating choppedparsley, hot showering and excessive tooth brushingwill remove at least the greater part of it.

In recipes from North or Central Europe, garlic is normally cooked for a longtime to reduce it odour; furthermore, its aroma is thereby sufficiently dampedto fit better to the rather mild food of this region. Cooks tend to use garlictogether with some Mediterranean herbs (thyme,bay leaves), but also with indigenous spices likejuniper andcaraway.

Garlic drying after harvest in Nepal

Cooks in Sou­thern Europe tend to use garlic much more liberally. It is com­monlycom­bined with pungentchiles (e. g., Italianspa­ghetti aglio ed olio, spa­ghetti noodles with garlic andolive oil); garlic finely cut and sus­pended inolive oil to­gether withparsley leaves is often served to barbecued fish inCroatia. Garlic is a main con­stituent of most Medi­terranean sauces; someexamples using raw garlic were given above. Food prepared with both red orwhite wine calls for some garlic: Rabbit stewed in red wine together withgenerous amounts of garlic andbay leaves is anational dish in Malta (Fenek bit-tewm u bl-Inbid), andPortugueseporco vinho e alho (fried pork cubes that havebeen seasoned with white wine and garlic) is delicious; the latter foodwas adapted to South West India, where it is known asvindaloo [विंदालू] (seetamarind).

Also, Eastern Europe has a lot of garlic tradition: From the Balkan to the Baltic, garlic is found in soups, sauces and salads. Serbia and Hungary have a fine reputaton for their garlic-laden foods, but also the Black Sea countries Bulgaria and Romania use it a lot. On the Eastern coast of the Baltic sea, garlic is often consumed in salads and other cold foods, preferably raw and squeezed; for example, small cubes of dry black rye bread shortly fried in oil with some garlic make a snack commonly eaten in Lithuania, typically to go with a glass of beer.

Of botanically related plants,onion is certainlythe most important. Even more closely related isbear’sgarlic, whose fresh leaves have some tradition in Central Europe.