Garlic In Latin countries, garlic is the king of herbs, used to flavour many dishes. Garlic was worshiped by the ancient egyptians, chewed by Greek olympic athletes for its invigorating qualities, and has even been thought to keep vampires at bay!

Botanical Family Belonging to the lily family - Allium - its relatives are onions, shallots and leeks. It is the bulb of the plant which is used for cooking and medicinal purposes. A compound bulb is formed from many small bulbs, which grow together in a cluster. When planted, each individual garlic clove forms a new head of garlic.   History Thought to have originated in central Asia, garlic has been known and cultivated in China from time immemorial, and according to Heroditus, was widely used by the ancient Egyptians, being particularly popular with the peasants. The Israelites complained to Moses while in the desert, "We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely, and the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic". From Egypt it was introduced to the Greeks and Romans. Alexander the Great fed garlic to his troops, believing it to increase their strength and vitality. Like onions, garlic has been cultivated widely since the 15th Century.   Food Value Although relatively small amounts of garlic are used in cooking, it has great medicinal value. Studies have shown that fresh garlic lowers cholesterol and triglycerides, which promotes cardiovascular health by helping to prevent blood clotting and therefore heart attacks and strokes. Garlic can stop the growth of microbes more effectively than some potent antibiotics. Garlic is thought to amplify the antioxidant activity in our bodies, which promotes health and protects against cancer, degenerative disease as well as cardiovascular disease.   Search our recipe database for garlic.

Bibliography Bianchini, F; Corbetta, F; et al. The Complete Book of Fruits and Vegetables [English Translation] (New York: Crown, 1976) Francis, C. The Complete Onion [Australian Edition] (Sydney: William Collins: 1982)