Garlic

Most of the “fresh” garlic sold in this area is from China. That’s a real shame, because I don’t think it’s as good as almost any other garlic, so I jumped at the chance to buy a two pound bag of “heirloom” garlic from Gilroy, CA at Costco. I just peeled the last head of Chinese garlic and a full head of Gilroy garlic for some chili I am making and the difference is dramatic. The aroma of the Gilroy is about three times as strong and much more complex than the Chinese garlic. The Chinese garlic, is completely bland by comparison. If I wanted to , I would say that Gilroy is Saxum while the Chinese is AFWE garlic.

About 5 years ago, I went to a garlic festival in Central New York just south of Cooperstown and it was a real eye opener. I got there about 15 minutes before they closed, so I rushed through and got a crash course in garlic. There was an amazing variety with different flavor profiles. I remember “German” garlic which tasted like it had pepper in it, and a few different kinds with various herbal components, as well as some delicate ones that were to be used raw in salad dressing. I grabbed paper bags of about 10 different kinds, scribbled notes on the outside of each bag so I would remember which was which, and brought them home. Sadly, they were all gone long ago. I wish I could get replacements. There is a big garlic festival in Saugerties NY in September every year. Maybe it’s time for a trip. I still regret that when we were in Carmel about 4 years ago and left to go to the airport, the other person in the car refused to allow me to stop at Garlic World, right off the highway in Gilroy.

Totally with you on this, Jay. Good garlic is an eye-opener if you’ve only had the dull stuff before. So often it’s old, dried out, without life or aroma. And don’t get me started on the stuff you buy already peeled! So many cooks think it’s all interchangeable, and it is not at all. We get it at the farmers’ market whenever possible.

It’s true of shallots, too. We got some shallots at the market yesterday that I used in a pan sauce, and the flavor was so much more intense than the grocery store variety, that I had to completely change the proportions of the sauce to bring it into balance with the increased shallot flavor.

NYers have access to the DRC of garlic at the Union Square Greenmarket from Keith Stewart. Rocambole originally from Calabria.

Thanks for the tip. I know this is silly to the non-New Yorker, but that’s a bit under two miles from my office, which means I rarely get that far south. I’ll have to make a special trip.

We’ve been buying hardneck garlic from our organic farm lady all summer and fall.

Okay, keep us posted!

What’s really silly to a non new Yorker is why you aren’t getting fresh garlic in your csa basket <>

This, lol (I guess it’d be just as silly to ask why he doesn’t grow it in pots on the balcony).

OMG! As much as we use garlic and grow pots of stuff on the deck, never thought to try to grow garlic. Duh! Some times just need a nudge…

I buy garlic to plant in the fall but always end up using it because it is so good!

Well, if you want to give me directions on how to grow my own garlic, I could plan it now. As to CSA, there’s only so much tough bitter leafy greens that any person can be expected to eat.

I always thought I’d have too much waste with a CSA basket for just 2 people. 8 months out of the year the local farmers market supplies my needs. I can stop there on my way home twice a week and get just enough for the next few days.

agreed. the nice part is, you can just harvest it whenever and it even winters. More than once though, I’ve accidentally dug tulips, etc.

Though not , perhaps, directly related…the scapes from the garlic are great to use, too.

Our local farmer can’t give them away, but…I horde them. Last year in Maine a local farmer, whose family we know somewhat, invited us over to cut what we wanted of the scapes in mid-summer. They are great stuff…i eat them raw in salads. (The guy had, I think, 6 varieties, he sold at farmers’ markets).

there’s a great scape and mushroom recipe in the Joe Beef cookbook.

In Romania, one of my favorite stews was garlic stew. Basically it is a beef bourguinon, with the main vegetable being green garlic. Absolutely fantastic.

Gilroy rocks.

Chinese garlic is easy to spot, the roots have to be completely scraped off for US import.

Yeah, you can literally smell the garlic trucks from Gilroy when they pass on the highway.

Aha! So that explains it. Now I know how to avoid the stuff. The Gilroy garlic definitely had the dirty roots attached.