Garlic

Garlic

Garlic is a plant whose close relatives include the onion, shallot and leek. Garlic has been used throughout recorded history for both culinary  and medicinal purposes. It has a characteristic pungent, “hot” flavour that mellows and sweetens considerably with cooking.  A “head” of garlic, the most commonly used plant part, comprises numerous discrete “cloves”.  It is necessary to remove the parchment-like skin from the cloves before cooking. The term ‘clove’ is sometimes misinterpreted to mean the whole garlic bulb (head).

Garlic is also alleged to help regulate blood sugar levels, and has anti-viral and anti-fungal properties, and is also believed to be anti-carcinogenic. The flavour of garlic is best released when the cloves are crushed, and the taste of garlic is mellowed with cooking. Care should be taken when cooking garlic, as it burns easilly in hot oil, and becomes bitter.

Russian Garlic, also known as Elephant garlic is in fact not a true garlic, but from the leek family of plants. It may, however, be used in the same way as regular garlic, although it is mellower in taste. Roasting whole cloves of garlic in their skins makes a delicious accompaniment to a meal, the flavour develops to a sweet rich taste.

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, and is Certified Organic, and it has nothing to do with elephants, 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. In fact, organic garlic readily sprouts in Autumn, and it is easy to grow in your garden. Just separate the cloves and plant them pointed side (sprouted side) up and mulch well.

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. Medical studies have shown that garlic can help to inhibit the formation of some cancer cells, and it is also a source of Vitamin A, B1 and C, and contains sulphur, iron, copper, zinc, calcium, magnesium, portassium and phosphorous. Phew!

Garlic is also anti-fungal and anti-viral. To get the maximum health benefits from garlic, and also to find the best taste, freshness is important. At the end of the garlic season, or when your garlic is perhaps getting a bit old, it is still fine to use, just remove the green shoots from within the clove, as these can be quite bitter.