Native to central Asia, garlic (Allium sativum) is now cultivated throughout the world. It is a member of the onion family -- the name comes from the Old English words gar (lance), a reference to the slender, spear-shaped leaves, and leac (leek). Grown for its bulb, the plant also has white flower heads.

There are many garlic varieties. The bulbs, also called heads, vary in the size and number of cloves they contain, and are covered by a white, pink or mauve skin. The garlic from hot climates is usually the sweetest and has the best flavor.

Garlic should be hard and full, with no discolored spots. Its flavor varies from sweet and nutty to strong and pungent. The taste of garlic varies, depending on whether it is eaten raw or cooked. The method of cooking affects the taste as well. A soup made from two or three heads of garlic, or meat roasted with 40 cloves, will have a surprising fragrance and mellowness.

Half of a raw clove in a salad is stronger and much more pungent, while fried garlic has a flavor of its own. Many dishes, particularly in Catalonia and the French Pyrenees, combine the flavors of raw and cooked garlic.

Garlic is loved by most of the world and seems to repulse the rest -- mainly Anglo-Saxons and vampires! It is an ancient plant which has been used for centuries. Worshipped for its curative and preventative powers by the Egyptians, and widely used in medieval times as a cure for the plague, garlic contains antiseptic substances which work on the digestive system. It is also said to relieve coughs and colds, and reduce blood pressure. It has been used as a stimulant and also possibly counteracts the effects of alcohol and rich food.

Popular taste for the plant declined through the ages, but garlic has regained favor since tastes in food have become more cosmopolitan and experimental. It is believed to be a medically beneficial plant, and certainly the regions which use it as an important part of their diet, such as the Mediterranean countries, have some of the healthiest diets today.

Since ancient times, people around the world have had a long and passionate relationship with garlic. As long ago as 5,000 B.C., clay models of garlic bulbs were buried with Egyptians in their tombs, and more than 3,000 years later Tutankhamen was buried with the real thing.

The countries of both the Greek and Roman empires made wide use of garlic, and the Old Testament tells us that the Israelites in the wilderness remembered "the fish, which we did eat freely...and the onions, and the garlick." (Numbers 11:5). The English name comes from "gar-leac," the Anglo-Saxon word for "spear leek," referring to the spear-shaped leaves.

The smell of garlic has been commented on profusely. Our modern-day enjoyment of this pungent bulb should not be denied from fear of comparison with the 16th century King Henry VI of France, who chewed garlic and had "a breath that would fell an ox at twenty paces." Nevertheless, the smell of garlic has meant that the whims of polite society, whether Roman or Victorian, deemed it occasionally unfashionable.

Garlic has been valued throughout history as a medicine as well as a food. It has held a reputation at one time or another as a remedy for virtually every illness -- it has even been recommended as an aphrodisiac. There can be little doubt that its more mainstream medicinal uses, both historically and in the present day, have proved both effective and beneficial.

Garlic is currently enjoying a revival. Nowadays, garlic festivals are held wherever it is grown commercially, usually in the spring and early summer, when the crop of the new season comes in. In the United States, the Gilroy Festival attracts some 100,000 visitors. The Californian farming town calls itself "the world's garlic capital." In England, the Isle of Wight Garlic Festival is held at Newchurch in August, where the air is heavy with the aroma of garlic. Both festivals have atmospheres like a mixture of a country fair, a gourmet food festival and a late 1960s music festival. There is plenty of opportunity for visitors to participate in garlic tastings.

Countries that grow garlic as an agricultural crop use it in abundance and appreciate its potency. Travel to the Mediterranean has created an interest in garlicky food in the home countries of returning vacationers. The European, Central American and South American immigrants to the United States have brought garlic with them to expand and enliven local cooking. Throughout history, garlic has crossed centuries and borders, allowing us to enjoy its special flavor and qualities.

Garlic grows as a bulb under the earth.  It is an easy crop to cultivate, but it requires a long growing season, plenty of sun, and light, moist soil.  It especially flourishes in warm climates.

To grow your own garlic, begin with a healthy looking bulb with fat cloves. You can buy special garlic for planting, or simply use cloves that you have either bought for cooking or saved from last year's crop.  Separate the cloves and plant them individually, pointed end up, about four inches apart and two inches deep, in the late fall or early spring.  They should be ready to harvest in July or August. 

In the spring, the plants produce long, pointed leaves known as garlic shoots.  They can sometimes be found in gourmet stores, but if you grow your own, all the better.  Use them in salads or add them to egg dishes and sauces for a mild, fresh garlic flavor.  Slightly older, firmer shoots can be used in Chinese cooking.

Harvest garlic in the summer, when the grass-like tops have turned brown and dried off.  To dry, clean the soil from the bulbs and trim the roots.  Lift the bulbs and leave them to dry in the sun. 

When each bulb is ripe, it splits into ten or more individual cloves covered in a papery skin.  Trim the dried stems and either bunch or braid them together.  Ripe garlic will keep for up to a year in a cool dark place before it begins to sprout and lose its flavor.

1. Add peeled whole cloves of garlic to a jar of oil, refrigerate and keep for 2 to 3 days before using. Brush on foods before they are grilled, broiled or sauteed.
2. Add peeled whole cloves of garlic to white-wine vinegar and keep for 2 to 3 days before using in salad dressings.
3. Bury 3 peeled and pressed cloves in 1/2 cup of sea salt. Leave for a few days in a screw-topped jar. Remove garlic and use the salt as a seasoning.
4. Make garlic puree by putting peeled cloves in a blender or food processor, add some olive oil and blend until smooth. Store in a screw-topped jar for up to 5 days in the refrigerator. For a milder flavor, drain boiled garlic, then either mash it with a fork or push it through a strainer. It can be stored in a glass jar under a layer of olive oil and will keep for up to 5 days in the refrigerator. Spread it on toast, or add it to soups, sauces, gravies, vegetable purees and mashed potatoes.
5. Peel 4 heads of garlic. Place in a glass jar with 4 to 6 small red chilies. Heat 1 1/4 cups cider vinegar with 1 tablespoon sugar and 2 teaspoons salt. Cool, then pour over the garlic, seal and leave for 1 week. Use in Thai or Mexican recipes.
6. Put 8 oz of peeled garlic cloves in a pan and add enough oil to cover. Cook over medium heat for 20 minutes until tender. Cool, then pack in a jar. Keep in the refrigerator for a maximum of 5 days. Use on pizzas and add to pasta.
7. Store a string of garlic in a cool, dry place, not in a warm, steamy kitchen. Strings or braids of garlic are a good buy if you use a lot of garlic. Otherwise, buy smaller quantities and store in an earthenware garlic cellar, which allows air to circulate and protects the garlic from the light.
8. The flavor of sprouted garlic can be bitter. If the garlic has sprouted, slice each clove in half; remove and discard the green shoot.

Green Garlic : Also called "wet garlic," this variety consists of the fresh white garlic heads with green stems and juicy cloves. Green garlic looks more like a leek, and its prized flavor often replaces leeks or onions in soups and souffles. It is available at the beginning of the season, often from special suppliers. If you have grown your own, lift it a month before harvesting. Fresh green garlic will not keep for more than two or three weeks, while the dried heads keep for months.

French Garlic : Cultivated in the Mediterranean areas of southwest France and Provence, this variety has big juicy cloves and an excellent flavor, but it does not keep well. Look out for the famous Rose de Lautrec, which is a pink garlic from Lautrec.

Spanish Morada Garlic : This is the variety most commonly available during the winter months. It has large cloves and keeps well.

Venetian Italian Garlic : Cultivated in the Po valley, this variety has a dense white bulb that keeps well.

Oak-smoked Garlic : This variety is now available in some gourmet stores. The garlic is treated in a conventional smokehouse in a cold smoking process that takes up to 48 hours. The bulbs are milder, with a hint of smoke and an aftertaste.

To peel a garlic clove easily, squash it with the blade of a heavy knife to loosen the skin.  For a large numbers of cloves, the best method is to simmer them in gently boiling water for several minutes -- the skins will then slip off.

Most skillful cooks can crush a clove of garlic with one swipe of a large-bladed knife, but this can be difficult for the amateur.  A safer method is to crush the peeled clove with a little salt on a work surface, using the prongs of a fork.  The salt will absorb the juices and make it easier to scoop the tiny garlic pieces off the board.  Remember to use the salt as part of the seasoning for the dish. 

A garlic press is also effective, even though it may be troublesome to clean afterward. The garlic press will also produce a stronger garlic flavor.  However, there are some cooks who swear by their garlic press and others who claim it makes the fresh garlic taste bitter. 

There are some recipes which completely rely on the special qualities of garlic.  The pungent dish, Provencal aioli, is made from garlic and mayonnaise, and can be eaten with crudites, cooked white fish or Mediterranean fish soup.  Many Italian-style dishes, such as buttery garlic bread and pasta sauces, are largely based on garlic; some sauces are as simple as crushed garlic, herbs and olive oil.

Whole garlic cloves impart less flavor to a dish than crushed or chopped ones.  When boiling vegetables, add whole peeled cloves to the water to create a subtle aroma.  Add whole cloves, peeled or unpeeled, while roasting meat -- they can be served mashed and eaten with the meat or vegetables.  For dishes that require a less-pronounced flavor, poach the cloves for a few minutes in water to remove the pungency.  Take this a step further and poach them until they are tender, then press them through a sieve to make a mild, creamy puree. 

There are many ways in which the flavor of garlic can be introduced to a dish without actually including the garlic itself.  To create a subtle flavor in salads, add crushed or chopped garlic to a dressing mixture and strain before use. 

Rub the cut side of a garlic clove around the salad bowl before adding the ingredients.  For hot dishes, heat some garlic in oil or butter to flavor it, but remove the garlic before adding other ingredients.  Take care not to burn it -- garlic takes only seconds to cook in hot oil or butter.  In some recipes, garlic is cooked very gently; in others it is allowed to turn golden, but never too brown, or it will taste bitter.

In other recipes, the whole garlic clove is used or introduced to flavor the cooking oil. Many stir-fried Chinese recipes heat ginger and garlic with the oil for the first step of cooking.  The ginger and garlic are then discarded once they have added flavor to the oil, before they turn brown.

Roasted whole heads of garlic can be cooked around a joint of meat; allow one head per person.  The inside becomes soft with a sweet, nutty flavor and can be squeezed from the skin and eaten with the dish.  Roast whole heads of garlic and use the puree in sauces or as a spread on toast. 

Special earthenware garlic roasters are available to cook one or more heads at a time.  If a roaster is unavailable, wrap the heads loosely in foil, drizzle with oil and bake in a medium-hot oven until soft.  Slice the top off the bulb before cooking to easily squeeze out the puree when cooked.  Garlic wrapped in foil is also delicious roasted on a barbecue.

Herbalists have used garlic since 1500 B.C.  From China, Greece, Egypt and the ancient Mesopotamian kingdoms of Babylon and Sumer, come complex recipes for a variety of diseases and health problems.  All of these writings extol garlic as the king of medicinal plants and make much of its virtues as a key ingredient in the daily diet.  But do these age-old stories of garlic's medicinal magic hold up under the rigorous scrutiny of science and medicine today?

Until very recently, scientists and researchers were skeptical about the diseases and ailments that garlic was claimed to treat.  The list includes: heart and arterial diseases, cholesterol levels, internal blood clotting, bacterial infections from salmonella and listeria organisms and fungal infections.  But is garlic really a cure-all?

Current rigorous scientific studies and clinical research in hospitals and universities clearly indicate that garlic has a major effect, both in curing and preventing such health problems.  The secret is that inside each clove, contained in each of the individual cells, are two very important materials which are quite separate from one another in the growing plant. 

The moment the clove is crushed or sliced, these materials combine to create allicin.  The smell of fresh-cut garlic indicates the production of allicin.  This material quickly breaks down when exposed to air or the heat of cooking into over 70 different sulfur-bearing compounds.  Many of these have specific effects on the body, which is the reason garlic helps with so many diverse health problems.

In the late 1970s, a massive survey of the diets of 17 countries was conducted to establish which foods might explain the enormous differences between the high levels of cardiovascular diseases in Western countries and the lower levels in Mediterranean countries.  The study established that raw or cooked garlic and onions in the daily diet was responsible -- possibly with the additional help of a glass or two of red wine.

Garlic may protect the arteries against fatty blockages, reduce high cholesterol levels, help prevent internal clots, kill stomach bugs, relieve cold and flu symptoms.  It may even repel mosquitoes, because unpalatable sulfur molecules develop on the skin when garlic is eaten regularly.

All in all, garlic adds zest and flavor to food, with the additional benefit of improving general health.  According to the famous cook Marcel Boulestin, "It is not an exaggeration to find that happiness and health are found where a lot of garlic is used in the kitchen."