Festivals
Gilroy Garlic Festival in California occurs in July.
Peeling Garlic
Most Cooks put the clove(s) on our cutting board and smash it using the flat side of our Chef’s Knife. This breaks apart the paper thin cover (like shown in the picture above) and the covering can be easily separated from the flesh. Anything else is just another thing in the kitchen to get dirty.
Types of Garlic
The Chinese domesticated the Garlic plant ~7k years ago, and produce 80% of all the world’s garlic.
The University of Vermont writes that there are 11 types of garlic, each with various named selections. But, while Garlic comes in a variety of types, we in California mainly see the softneck and elephant types.
For our purposes Garlic, also known as Allium sativum , is divided into a softneck and hardneck variety or subspecies. The hardneck are from the wild version humans have been growing for thousands of years. They require colder climates and have a stronger flavor. The softneck variety can be stored longer (up to a year) and grows in milder climates.
Softneck Garlic:
This is what I mostly find in the stores. The softneck is what we also see when there is braided garlic around.
- Varieties include: Artichoke and Silverskin
Black Garlic:
This is another garlic I have not seen, although it is used in Chinese, Korean and Japanese cooking. People who have tasted it says it is garlic with that pungent taste, but also has a bit of plum, and is chewy. Black garlic is processed through a combination of fermentation, dehydration, and low heat cooking.
Hardneck Garlic:
These are not local garlics, in that they require a much colder temperature to grow in. But occasionally I do see some. I find that these types of garlic tend a bit more toward spicy hot when compared to regular softneck garlic. The cloves are tinge with redish, pinkish, violet colors. Great for stronger vinegrets with apple cider vinegar, mustards, etc.
Creole Garlic:
This looks beautiful with its pink to purple bulb. I have never seen this in person. I have read it has a bite and its pungency can vary.
- Varieties include: Cuban Purple, Ajo Rojo, Burgundy, Creole Red, and Rose du Lautrec.
Garlic Snapes:
These are the greens that grow from the hardneck garlic and can be cut and used in salads or sautees.
Elephant Garlic:
Wikipedia: Elephant garlic is a perennial plant belonging to the onion genus. It is not a true garlic, but actually a variant of the garden leek. It has a tall, solid, flowering stalk and broad, flat leaves much like those of the leek, but forms a bulb consisting of very large, garlic-like cloves.
Elephant garlic look like, and smell like a gentler garlic but is actually a member of the leek family. It is mild and has onion undertones that are great for some meals. I have used it in soups and sauces especially.
The size means I can microplane the garlic, along with ginger when making a dashi-based broth. I have also used this sliced in roasted veggies for a little extra zing, and in my stir fry.
History + Nutrition
Garlic is a pungent, easily home grown, flavorful addition to most any food. It is commonly accepted that the plant is native to Central Asia and northeastern Iran, but these days it is grown around the world and in many backyards.
GreyDuckGarlic: The name garlic comes from garleac, an old Anglo-Saxon word meaning “spear leek.” Garlic is believed to be descended from Allium longicuspis, a wild strain of Asian garlic but its origins are still in question. It is from the lily (Liliaceae) family and related to onions, leeks, chives, and shallots. It was part of ancient peoples medicine bags, and has become part of many cuisines. (By the way, “allium” is the Latin word for “garlic.” )
I will be speaking of the regular sized garlic and its cloves rather than the elephant Garlic.
Description
Garlic has a head, called a bulb which is ~2″ wide + high. The bulb has numerous smaller, separate cloves. The entire bulb is encased in thin paper-like sheathes that can be white, off-white, or have a pink/purple color. Although garlic cloves have a firm texture, they can be easily cut widthwise for baking (see above picture), or broken out into separate cloves.
Nutrition
1 clove = 4.5c, 3.8k, .2p, .1f, .5s
Vitamins = A, C, k, folate, choline.
Minerals = Calcium, Iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, manganese, selenium.
Other = Omga 3 + 6
Nutrition from SelfNutritionData
Medicinal levels of garlic consumption is much larger than would be experienced in regular cooking, unless you are making baked garlic as a spread. So I am treating Garlic as Medicine as different than Cooking with Garlic.
Garlic as Medicine
WebMD reports that a form of garlic is used for many medical conditions, and studies seem to indicate some support for lots of anecdotal stories. Garlic has been much studied with thousand of scientific articles on its uses, concerns and benefits. As always, speak with your medical provider before taking garlic supplements or consuming medicinal levels of garlic.
- Hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis). As people age, their arteries tend to lose their ability to stretch and flex. Garlic seems to reduce this effect. Research with other products containing garlic along with other ingredients (Kyolic, Total Heart Health, Formula 108, Wakunga) have also shown benefits.(1)
- High blood pressure. Taking garlic by mouth seems to reduce systolic blood pressure by ~7-9 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure by ~4-6 mmHg in people with high blood pressure. (2)
- Tick bites. People who consume lots of garlic seem to have a reduced number of tick bites. (3)
- Ringworm. Applying a gel with 0.6% ajoene (a chemical in garlic) 2x a day for 1 week seems as effective as antifungal medication for treating ringworm (4)
- Athlete’s foot. Applying a gel with 1% ajoene seems to be effective for treating athlete’s foot, as effective as the medicine Lamisil (5).
HealthLIne reports other areas where studies show it helps.
- Can combat sickness, including the cold (6)
- May improve cholesterol levels
- Garlic antioxidants may help prevent Alzheimer’s and Dementia (7)
- May help detoxify heavy metals in the body (8)
- A garlic compound may reduce disease-causing bacteria in the environment and food supply (9)
MedicalNewsToday reports on some additional studies.
- If tolerated, eating raw garlic 2x/week lowered risk of lung cancer 44% (10)
- Organo-sulfur compounds in garlic help destroy certain brain tumors (11)
- Veggie diet featuring garlic helps reduce hip osteoarthritis (12)
From what I can tell, to use fresh garlic as medicine you would have to consume ~20 grams (or 7.5t) of garlic in your food, ~1-3 times per week. (That is a lot of garlic! OMG the breathe and body odor I would have would generate HR complaints. Then someone would have to approach me to discuss body odor. UGH!) So unless you eat at The Stinking Rose in San Francisco several times a week, along with everyone you work and live with, I would suggest using capsules. But talk with your doctor first.
Interactions With Medicine
Garlic should not be consumed if you take certain medicines as it can change the effectiveness of the drugs. Caution when using Isoniazid (Nydrazid, INH), medications used for HIV/AIDS (Non-Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NNRTIs) or Saquinavir (Fortovase, Invirase). There are moderate interactions with other drugs: birth control pills, Cyclosporine (Neoral, Sandimmune), medications changed by the liver (Cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1) substrates), and Warfarin (Coumadin)
Garlic Storage
Store whole, unbroken heads in a (60-65F) cool, dry, dark place with low to moderate humidity. Make sure there is good air circulation wherever you store them. You can also break the head apart, and it turns into a mass of cloves and store those too. Then just grab when you need some. Check your garlic occasionally for any garlic heads with damaged cloves, as they will spoil rather quickly.
If the cloves start sprouting, cut off the green (or use it, I find the green part a bit bitter) and cook the garlic per usual. Or plant the garlic in your garden.
Garlic Pickles
You can make pickled garlic, good in the fridge for several months.
To make refrigerated garlic pickles, peel a handful of garlic cloves and have a clean lidded glass jar nearby. Put the peeled cloves in the jar, then add white vinegar, and kosher salt. Put into the fridge to marinate for ~1 week. For a herby flavor toss in some herbs (rosemary) and peppers.
Here are some recipes: Food52: Provides a recipe for South Indian Hot and Sweet Garlic Pickles. Epicurious : Spicy Mushroom Garlic pickles.
Freezing Garlic Paste + Roasted
Bake whole bulbs at 350F for ~45 min or until soft. Cut the top off and squeeze out the roasted cloves-paste. Makes a great, creamy topping to freshly baked bread. From my experience, roasted garlic can be kept for up to 1 to 1.5 weeks; but keep them oil packed, in a tight fitted lidded jar, and in the fridge.
OR make an oily garlic paste by 2:1 mix of oil to garlic paste. Keep the paste in the freezer. In both cases take the garlic out when you need it and you do not even have to defrost. But do not store these items in the fridge or on the countertops as they can grow bacteria. Frozen, the paste can be stored for up to 12 months.
DIY Dried Garlic + Garlic Salt
Dehydrate garlic by peeling them and slicing them very thin. Dehydrate until the sections are crisp. Then store the dried garlic slices in a lidded glass jar in your pantry, or in the freezer.
- Mince the dried slices and have chunky dried garlic
- Blend dried garlic slices for a pulse or two and have garlic granules
- Pulverize the dried garlic and have garlic powder
- Make a garlic salt, with a ratio of 3:1 salt to garlic powder
Garlic Dips + Dressings
Dips: Purée fresh garlic, with jarred + rinsed garbanzo beans, some tahini, olive oil and lemon juice to make hummus.
Dressings: 3T olive oil, 2t lemon juice, 1 pressed garlic clove, kosher salt and pepper to taste, for a great salad dressing.
