Garlic
Garlic is one of the most succulent and aromatic ingredients, which changes the taste of any savory dish. Just sautéing some crushed garlic in butter; you get a totally different aroma and flavor of your recipe. As an Egyptian, most our dishes and ethnic recipes must incorporate garlic, whether crushed, seared or even just adding it as a whole. Due to its popularity and common use, I have decided to start my mission to explore the world of food by understanding garlic. My first expedition will attempt to uncover what garlic really is, how it affects our body, as well as the reason behind its fame.
Defining Garlic
Garlic is a strongly fragrant bulb crop that has been historically used for both cooking but also for medicinal purposes.
It is formally defined as Allium staivum and belongs to the Liliacea family as onions, shallots, and leeks etc.
Garlic is composed of the bulb of this plant (grows up to 60 cm tall), which is made of small segments (up to amount 15) that we call cloves. The cloves and bulbs are concealed by a whitish and sometimes pinkish tunic (papery coat). The leaves are four to twelve long and sword-shaped attached to the stem underground. As for the flowers, they are greenish-white or pinkish with six perianth segments about 3 mm long. The Bulbils that resemble tiny cloves are usually scattered among the flowers.[1]
Ingredient in different languages:
English: Garlic
Arabic: Thume- ثوم
French: ail
Italian: aglio
Spanish: ajo
Historical background of garlic
Garlic is considered to be one of the oldest ingredients predominating the culinary tradition of several civilizations worldwide. It could be traced back to West and Central Asia, where Indians utilized it for tasting as well as medical purposes. Due to the trade between India and the Middle East, garlic became famous in Babylonian and Assyrian empires.
The most notable use of garlic is evident in the records of Ancient Egypt. Garlic was utilized by all classes as food flavor but also for medical and religious purposes. It was believed that it is a source of strength, that it prolonged life and was used as an anti-septic to cure wounds. “Garlic has been discovered in the tomb of Tutankhamun and in the sacred anumonal temple at Saqqara in Egypt” [2], protecting his soul and wealth.
Garlic was also famous ancient Greece and Roman Empire, where it was regarded as multi-purpose plant: from food medicine to religious and superstition rituals. They believed that garlic “can repel scorpions, treat dog bites, cure asthma, protect against leprosy, and if hanged above entrance door of the house it could stop the spread of smallpox”. [3]
Due to the expansion of the Muslim Empire, garlic has gained its global attention. The use of garlic as medical remedy but also as food flavor has spread across the Middle East and Eastern Europe. It was scientifically proven that garlic is “as an excellent cure for plague and small pox… [and] that garlic could kill germs, greatly reducing the possibility of wound infections.” [4]
As a consequence, garlic was utilized widely as an antiseptic and dysentery cure during both World Wars.
Types of garlic
There are more than 400 species of garlic. The most common type that we use is the Allium sativum, the one we usually find in the grocery store. Allium sativum has two sub-categories: softneck and hardneck.
Softneck garlic designation is due to the multilayered parchment that covers the entire bulb, which continues up to the neck of the bulb, and develops a soft stalk which is formed for braiding. Its sheath has a creamy white color. There are two subcategories of softneck garlic:
1. Silverskin garlic. It has a rose-tinted parchment and has a strong falvour.
2. Artichoke garlic. Artichoke garlic has a milder flavor and may have fewer and larger cloves than silverskin.
Hardneck Garlic
This type of garlic has an extremely firm stalk protruding an inch or two from the top of the bulb and it has three main types:
1. Rocambole: it peels easily and includes just one set of cloves around the woody stalk. This type has a rich flavor
2. Porcelain. It has four large cloves enveloped in a soft white papery sheath.
3.Purple stripe. It is unique for its bright purple streaks on their papery sheaths.
[1] “Allium sativum “ Key Royal Botanic Garden http://www.kew.org/science-conservation/plants-fungi/allium-sativum-garlic
[2] C A. Wright, Mediterranean Vegetables: A Cook's ABC of Vegetables and Their Preparation in Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, the Middle East, and North Africa with More Than 200 Authentic Recipes for the Home Cook Harvard Common Press, 2001
[3] “ History of Garlic” Vegetable Facts, http://www.vegetablefacts.net/vegetable-history/history-of-garlic/
[4] ibid.
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