What is Garlic
Garlic is a flowering plant also known as an allium. It is related to the onion, shallot, leek, and more. The word garlic comes from the Old English word garleac where gar means spear and leac means leek, so a spear-shaped leek. The plantโs stem can grow up to 3-feet tall, kinda like a spear.
What Garlic Tastes Like
It gets its sharp spicy flavor from sulfur-based compounds housed within the cloveโs cells. When a clove of garlic is eaten or chopped, enzymes in the clove then trigger the breakdown of those compounds. The result is newly created compounds. Those compounds are what you smell and taste. When cooked, heat transforms those compounds even further, giving garlic a slightly sweet and almost buttery flavor.
How to Buy American Garlic
Iโm just gonna say it. Buy American grown garlic. Why? A lot of times the regulations in other countries for how food is grown, handled, transported, and stored isโฆsuspicious to say the least. But U.S. standards are high.
So how do you know if it is American garlic? The roots. American grown garlic still has the roots attached. All imported garlic has the roots chopped off. The more you know!
How Is Garlic Used
Garlic is used around the world for its strong, spicy, and distinct flavor. The plantโs bulb is the most commonly used part, specifically the cloves. But other parts are also edible.
Culinary Use
Native to Asia, garlic has a long culinary history that spans several thousands of years. It was cultivated in Mesopotamia for over 4,000 years. Consumed both by ancient Greek and Roman soldiers, sailors, and the rural classes, and well-preserved garlic was even found in the tomb of Tutankhamun!
Other Uses
Garlic has been used in folk medicine everywhere from China to Egypt to Rome. Pliny named numerous conditions in which garlic was beneficial in his encyclopedic work, Natural History. And modern research continues to study the medicinal potential of garlic to this day.
How to Store A Garlic Bulb
First thing first, I am talking about storing a whole bulb of garlic here. Once you crack open the bulb, and break the seal, you have a different scenario on your hands. A garlic bulb that has been opened is not the same as one that is tightly wrapped in nature’s packaging.
The information below can keep a bulb of garlic fresh and ready to use for months. I have had mine last up to 6 months! If you break the seal, these same tips can help, but you are on borrowed time. It typically wont last beyond a week or so. Luckily, I have a hack for keeping peeled garlic for months!
Temperature
Garlic likes it cold. Like me. It helps slow sprouting, curbs other natural metabolic processes, and keeps microbes at bay. Ironically though, you should never store garlic bulbs in the refrigerator or the freezer.
Moisture
Garlic likes it dry. And the paper skin of the bulb does an excellent job of keeping in moisture. If itโs in a damp environment though, youโll run into trouble. Moisture is a playground for microbes.
Light
Garlic prefers the dark. Sunlight means warmth which means happy microbes. We don’t want that. It also has potential to degrade the bulb. The peel keeps the cloves moist but not in direct sunlight.
Air Flow
Garlic likes good ventilation. Kept in a container or drawer, moisture will build that can degrade the bulb.
Counter or Pantry
If youโve been crossing off possible storage spaces in your head based on the above criteria, youโre probably only left with a few options, like the counter or the pantry. The kitchen counter works perfectly so long as itโs not in direct sunlight or next to a hot area like the oven. The pantry also works well.
Sprouting
If your garlic does end up sprouting, that is okay. Cloves that have sprouted are entirely safe to eat. So are the sprouts themselves. You can use the sprouts just like you would green onions.
Enjoy!