Garlic is a revlative of the Onion and chives. Garlic is one of the most popular spice used in cooking and can be found in cultural dishes all over the world. Garlic sprouts can also be used to season your dishes.  Garlic also has medicinal qualities such as aiding in treating the common cold, strep throat, lung infections and fungal infections.

Garlic originated in China. Today China is still the largest producer of garlic, followed by India, South Korea, Russia and the US. Most of the garlic in the US is grown in Gilroy, California which wrongly calls itself the ‘Garlic capital of the world”. Garlic is considered to be easy to grow and can grow year round in mild climates. One advantage to growing garlic is that they will not be attacked by pests.

When buying garlic choose only firm cloves with no dark, powdery patches as this may be mold. Store garlic cloves in a cool dry place such as a kitchen drawer. They can for several weeks, if green sprouts begin to grow out of the cloves it is time to throw them out. Do not store whole cloves in the refrigerator, peel the cloves and keep them in the refrigerator soaked in vinegar.

Parsley is thought to prevent ‘garlic breath’.

Garlic Recipes: