Cloves of Garlic
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Obviously I can't squeeze an entire site into a couple of pages! However if you're new to
the world of garlic then here's some basic information about the stinking rose.
What Is Garlic?
Garlic is a bulbous plant of the genus
allium. There are around 500
members of the allium genus which includes other well known plants such
as leeks, shallots and onions. Alliums are in turn part of the Alliaceae
family.
The bulb grows underground and sends shoots (scapes) into the air. At the top of the shoots are
sometimes found garlic bubils.
Why's it called the stinking rose? We don't really know. "Stinking" is obvious, "rose"
might be a reference to the shape of the bulb.
The most commonly found garlic in the supermarkets is allium sativum
which basically means "cultivated garlic". This is subdivided into
hardneck and softneck garlics - see the garlic
varieties page for more detail.
Other forms of garlic
sometimes found in supermarkets include allium ursinum (wild garlic,
native to Northern Europe and Asia) and allium ampeloprasum (elephant
garlic). Elephant garlic looks appealing to garlic lovers due to its size
but in fact the taste is mild, almost bland. Other forms of garlic include
allium vineale (crow garlic) which has very small cloves and is reported to literally
"stone the crows".
Buying and Cooking
When buying garlic, make sure the heads are dry with plenty of paper
covering. If you can see green shoots then the garlic is probably too old
and/or wasn't dried properly. Garlic that is far too old will crumple
under the slightest pressure from the fingers.
Garlic grows under the ground in large, slightly off-white bulbs (or "heads")
which are covered by a papery skin. Inside each bulb is anything from
ten to twenty individual cloves which themselves have a pinkish skin.
It's important to know the difference between bulbs and cloves when cooking!
Garlic can be used in many ways - raw or cooked; whole, crushed or sliced. Raw garlic is
stronger than cooked, minced garlic stronger than sliced. Roasted whole garlic has a
totally different taste to crushed raw garlic.
>>>More About Garlic>>>
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