Garlic Story

Garlic story from Polly

     Somewhere in Branch Brady’s plentiful hillside gardens, reside 300 garlic plants.  Though just harvested after flourishing in richly composted soil for one year, fat cloves will soon go back in the ground for another season.

     Making explanatory phrases like, “I’m not a garlic guru,” the retired CMR track coach shares his harvested garlic heads.  His enthusiasm for growing “allium sativum” has rubbed on others, who with the gift of his bulbs, have become garlicophiles.

     Brady has been growing garlic for fifteen years after Bob Miller, CMR shop teacher, gave him a few seed heads to plant. He then purchased five bulbs from Jim Bundi at the Farmer’s Market and each year, he takes five of the largest bulbs to replant.  He has two varieties: Bundi’s white, a hardneck or “corkscrew,” as some call it, because it turns when it comes up.  He also has a red heirloom which came from another garlic hobbyist, Ray Heffern.  Both varieties yield “thumb size” cloves.

     “I just have fun with it; I’m not a garlic expert, I like to grow it and give it away,” he says.

     Garlic grows in many climates.  It needs sun, and well drained soil.  It is planted in the fall, and comes up in the spring.  As it grows, it sprouts green stalks, that appear like iris leaves.  From these stalks, a green bloom comes that must be plucked to promote the growth back in the underground bulb.   The green bloom has a mild garlic flavor and may be used in salads and soups.  In these climes, garlic is ready to be dug up in July and August.

    The popular herb evokes many myths and legends.

     Garlic is derived from the old English term “garleac” which means “spear leek.”  It has been used for over 60 centuries especially in Asia as a medicinal and culinary agent.  Many ancient civilizations including the Romans, Greeks, as well as Egyptians, used garlic to boost strength and prevent diseases.  It was said that garlic made Egyptian builders stronger, and Roman legions more courageous.  According to folklore, gladiators would rub cloves all over their battle- ready bodies to repel combat opponents and even lions.  That use, prompted its Italian name, “la rosa puzzalente,” or, the stinking rose.

      The long history of garlic popularity is evidenced by its discovery in King Tut’s tomb.  It has been used for culinary and medical purposes and also has a reputation as a repellent of irritants from mosquitoes to vampires.     

       Interestingly, garlic did not become popular in the United States until the 1940s. It was frowned upon by foodie snobs and found almost exclusively in ethnic dishes in working class neighborhoods.  Finally, America embraced it, recognizing its value as not only a minor seasoning, but as a major ingredient in recipes.

     Gilroy, California is known as the garlic capital of the world.  Commercially, about 90 per-cent of this country’s garlic is grown in California.  Today, Americans alone consume more than 250 million pounds of garlic annually. 

     Garlic, a member of the lily family, belongs to the Allium class of bulb shaped plants which includes onions, chives, leeks, and scallions.  The teardrop shaped garlic bulb is the most commonly used portion of the plant and is composed of individual cloves encased in a white parchment like skin.  Elephant garlic has larger cloves and is more closely related to the leek.  Garlic is used as a flavoring in cooking and is unique because of its high sulfur content.

     The potent smell of the bulb is not for the faint of nose, garlic fanatics warn.  Because of the sulphurous compounds, bad breath (halitosis) results from eating garlic.  Garlic breath can be reduced by the usual oral hygiene methods, or just surround yourself with friends who are also garlic consumers.      

     September is the time to buy good garlic.  It has just been harvested. Garlic is usually milder soon after it is pulled from the ground than it will be after a few months of storage as the chemistry within the garlic evolves during the year.  Once pulled from the ground, garlic slowly dehydrates in a natural drying down process that takes months and as it loses its moisture, it slowly shrinks in size and the flavor begins to condense and continues to intensify as long as it is stored at room temperature. You know you have fresh garlic when you find the skin clinging desperately to the clove when you try to peel it. (It has not shrunk yet.)  If at any point during this process you slice and dry it, it will retain whatever flavor it had at that point and will not change any more.  Shelf life at room temp at about 50% humidity is from four to ten months or longer, depending on the variety and the health and condition of the garlic.  Garlic keepers, covered ceramic pots with holes for circulation, provide the kind of cool, dark climate in which garlic bulbs keep best.  Do not on your own store garlic in oil, even under refrigeration as is sometimes recommended because cases of botulism have resulted.  Commercial preparations of garlic in oil, by law, have been specially treated to prevent this possibility.

     Commercially grown garlic is available locally.  Bundi Gardens plant 6000 bulbs of garlic each year which were harvested three weeks ago.  They have twelve different varieties that are available at the Bundi Gardens and at the Farmer’s Market.  Their garlic is priced by weight: by the braid, and by the bulb.   

    There are many dishes that are unimaginable without garlic: aioli from France, bagna cauda from Italy, roasted garlic, and of course, garlic bread.  Innovative recipes from creative chefs bring forth the many tastes of garlic.  Here are just a few:

Roasted Garlic –recipe from Sherry Brady

    Garlic becomes rather sweet when roasted. It may be squeezed out of the cloves and added to olive oil and balsamic vinegar to spread on French or Italian bread.  Sometimes referred to as:  Italian butter.

To roast garlic: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Take one (or more) garlic head, and snip the top to level.  Place in tin foil and drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil.  Make a tent by bringing sides of foil over garlic and twist to close. Place in oven and roast until tender, about 45 minutes.  Remove from the oven and squeeze out the garlic paste from each clove.

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Garlic Cheese Bread

½ pound grated Cheddar cheese

1 ounce grated Parmesan cheese

1 cube butter, softened

1 clove garlic chopped

½ teaspoon paprika

Dash of Tobasco sauce

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 loaf French bread, sliced ½ inch thick.

Preheat oven broiler.  Line jellyroll pans with foil.

Mix together first seven ingredients.  Spread cheese mixture on bread slices and sprinkle with a little paprika.  Place on prepared pan.  Broil until very browned and bubbly.

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Garlic Smashed Potatoes

2 pounds unpeeled new baby red potatoes, cut in half, if large

6 cloves garlic, halved