Great News! the first of the new season's garlic has arrived! Garlic has so many wonderful uses, adding wonderful flavour to cooking,  and offers a multitude of health benefits. There has been concern lately about the quality of garlic available in Australia, with many people worried about the quality of imported garlic, especially from China. In Australia, up to 90% of the garlic available in supermarkets is imported, mostly from China. With recent food safety incidents adding to these concerns, we thought it would be a good idea to let you know a bit more about the garlic available at Ripe.

    * All garlic sold at Ripe is grown in Australia, and is Certified Organic. We NEVER sell imported garlic, even when local supply is short.

    * Russian garlic is the variety name of a large mellow garlic variety, also known as Elephant Garlic. The "russian garlic" we sell at Ripe is grown in Australia, (not russian) and is Certified Organic. It has nothing to do with elephants either, except that it is quite big, like an elephant, 

    * Unlike imported garlic (especially garlic from China) organic garlic is never treated with methyl bromide, never bleached with chlorine and never treated with growth inhibitors or gamma irradiation to stop it sprouting.

Organic garlic is wonderful to cook with, it has a strong, delicious pungent taste, which is best released when the clove is crushed.  Garlic has an active ingredient known as allicin, which is a sulphur compound  which encourages the  elimination of cholesterol from the blood, and lowers blood pressure.  Allicin is much more concentrated in raw garlic, and is responsible for the recognisable odour that is associated with garlic. Garlic is also anti-fungal and anti-viral.