WEST BRATTLEBORO — A virus, a bacteria, a fungus, and a microbe walk into a bar... and garlic kills them all.
Garlic is one of the most important of the medicinal plants and is certainly the most delicious, too. But, no one really knows what it is. Food nerds may challenge garlic as an herb or a spice.
About.com has this to say on the matter:
“One of the most important ingredients in all of the culinary arts, garlic nevertheless seems to defy, or transcend, attempts to define it in any but the most literal of terms. So, what is garlic? Is it an herb? A spice? The truth is, it's neither.
“The word herb denotes something green, whether the leaves or stems of some sort of plant. The word spice indicates any other item, including roots, bark, seeds and so on, but specifically in the dried form. Garlic really doesn't fit either one of those categories.
“So it's probably most accurate to call garlic a vegetable, even though it's hardly ever eaten on its own. In this sense, garlic is most similar to onions and shallots, although ultimately garlic belongs in a category all its own.”
Here's the thing. When you buy garlic in supermarkets, you're just purchasing the bulb. But when you grow it or shop at local farm stands, you'll have access to the sweet green shoots, or scapes, and the tender leaves. And, in this way, garlic is an herb. It's only fitting that garlic is so unique, as there are few flora that surpass it in utility, availability, and flavor. It truly merits its own category.
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July is the month for garlic. The month begins with garlic scapes adorning farm stands and natural food stores. Garlic scapes are the adorable, swirly tender green shoots that create flowers. When the leaves die, the garlic bulb is ready to harvest. Store bulbs in a cool dark place with ventilation, and they will keep until next July.
Garlic is represented all over the world in every type of cuisine. I bet when we colonize Mars, space emigrants will pack it. Garlic is my favorite spice. I'd smear it in pancakes if my family would let me get away with it.
Garlic is as therapeutic as it is tasty. It has as many many - oh so many - health- promoting benefits as uses in the kitchen. Garlic's properties are beneficial to heart health, including circulatory concerns, high cholesterol, hypertension, and diabetes and obesity. Garlic possesses antibiotic, antifungal, and antimicrobial properties. It is one of the few natural (and readily available) antiviral spices.
Garlic is super-healthy, and SPROUTED garlic adds a turbo-boost of nutrients. As plants awaken, they require nutrients to “enliven” - B-vitamins and proteins activate, starches pre-digest, and enzymes go nuts. This is sprouting. So, feel great about using up last year's garlic, if it's starting to sprout shoots.
In China, they go one step further and create a super-charged black garlic. Black garlic is fermented for about 3 months. The result is a gelatinous, vinegar-like substance. This transformation activates the anti-oxidants in garlic that help do all those magical health-regulating functions.
One way to assure using garlic is to practice Mise en Place, a kitchen axiom meaning “everything in its place.” Once a week, chop up an entire bulb and store it in the refrigerator in olive oil. You'll use it in everything - salads, marinades, soups, and stir-fry dishes.
Chopping also activates and releases the powerful antioxidants, making garlic healthier, each day.
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Here is a basic garlic marinade (or dressing). Marinades are made in ratios versus amounts, depending on how much you need.
1 part vinegar - raw, undistilled
1 part tamari
2 parts olive oil - organic, cold-pressed
Garlic - minced or chopped, finely
How much garlic should you use?
Add a clove at a time, tasting after each addition. Garlic's flavor heightens or blooms with time, so add one clove less than what tastes fine - unless the dressing will be used immediately, in which case, go ahead and zap your marinade with health and flavor.
Add flavors, as you wish: fresh or dried herbs, hot peppers, tomato, etc.
Look for local garlic at our co-ops and farm stands. Lilac Ridge Farm in West Brattleboro is known for their prolific and amply-sized bulbs. (The bulbs are as large as Richardson's strawberries! Or, maybe the other way around...)
If you have just one herb in your kitchen, whether on Earth or Mars, let it be garlic. And, as for Independence Day, I don't know about those pesky Redcoats, but garlic will definitely keep those vampires away.
Go Garlic!