Re: Understanding Garlic

[email hidden] (AlleyGator) wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

maxine in ri said:

From Science News:
Week of June 4, 2005; Vol. 167, No. 23 , p. 357
Decoding Garlic's Pizzazz: Extract stimulates taste, temperature
receptors

Very interesting stuff. What baffles me the most is why I have such a
hard time finding any that is not half-dried and sprouting these days.
Haven't seen any good garlic for a long time.

At Trader Joe's this a.m., I found this huge head of garlic about the
size of a baseball with giant cloves, called "Elephant garlic." I'd seen
something smaller called elephant garlic, but not like what I saw this
a.m. It's supposed to be sweeter so I was told.

Andy

Andy said:

[email hidden] (AlleyGator) wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

maxine in ri said:

From Science News:

Quoted message said:

Week of June 4, 2005; Vol. 167, No. 23 , p. 357
Decoding Garlic's Pizzazz: Extract stimulates taste, temperature
receptors

Very interesting stuff. What baffles me the most is why I have such a
hard time finding any that is not half-dried and sprouting these days.
Haven't seen any good garlic for a long time.

At Trader Joe's this a.m., I found this huge head of garlic about the
size of a baseball with giant cloves, called "Elephant garlic." I'd seen
something smaller called elephant garlic, but not like what I saw this
a.m. It's supposed to be sweeter so I was told.

Andy

And milder.

--
You wanna measure, or you wanna cook?

Andy said:

At Trader Joe's this a.m., I found this huge head of garlic about the
size of a baseball with giant cloves, called "Elephant garlic." I'd seen
something smaller called elephant garlic, but not like what I saw this
a.m. It's supposed to be sweeter so I was told.

Andy

Ok, don't scream at me, but didn't I see a show where Alton Brown
("Good Eats)said elephant garlic is really not garlic, but an onion? I
may be wrong, correct me if I am.

"itsjoannotjoann" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Andy said:

At Trader Joe's this a.m., I found this huge head of garlic about the
size of a baseball with giant cloves, called "Elephant garlic." I'd

seen

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

something smaller called elephant garlic, but not like what I saw this
a.m. It's supposed to be sweeter so I was told.

Andy

Ok, don't scream at me, but didn't I see a show where Alton Brown
("Good Eats)said elephant garlic is really not garlic, but an onion? I
may be wrong, correct me if I am.

I dunno. Perhaps you're right. I held that puppy in my hand and thought
I'd shrunk!

😉

Andy

--
"Ladies and gentlemen, The Beatles!"
- Ed Sullivan (1964)

On Sun, 05 Jun 2005 13:33:30 -0700, Lou <[email hidden]>
connected the dots and wrote:

~On Sun, 5 Jun 2005 11:10:21 -0400, Tony P.
~<[email hidden]> wrote:
~
~>In article <[email hidden]>,
~>[email hidden] says...
~>> maxine in ri <[email hidden]> wrote:
~>>
~>> >From Science News:
~>> >Week of June 4, 2005; Vol. 167, No. 23 , p. 357
~>> >Decoding Garlic's Pizzazz: Extract stimulates taste, temperature
~>> >receptors
~>>
~>> Very interesting stuff. What baffles me the most is why I have
such a
~>> hard time finding any that is not half-dried and sprouting these
days.
~>> Haven't seen any good garlic for a long time.
~>
~>I've noticed that recently. The overall quality of produce in
general
~>has been going downhill in recent years. For example, the local
~>supermarket will put oranges that look like they've been through
hell
~>out for $1.00 each. Out of curiosity I bought one, dry and
tasteless.
~>
~>I have yet to see the produce manager show his smiling face. I
wonder
~>why.
~
~Most of the supermarkets here in Socal are selling Garlic heads
packed
~in the plastic netting sleeves, 5 or 6 heads together. Reading the
~label I'm finding it is a product of China. California being the No.
1
~Garlic producing state in the country, importing Chinese Garlic just
~doesn't compute. Although Garlic seems to be Garlic, I'd rather buy
~the domestic stuff and so, have to find a market where they sell
~loose heads and only then, if grown in California. Strange !!!

There are many sorts of garlic. Some friends made me a braid from
their garden, with 7 different cultivars<?>. Some were almost sweet,
others so hot I could barely cook with them. Some only had 4
good-sized cloves, others had dozens it seemed.

I've tried the ones from the Asian market, and they're sort of bland.
The ones I get in the Italian greengrocers around here are the best.

maxine in ri

maxine in ri said:

On Sun, 05 Jun 2005 13:33:30 -0700, Lou <[email hidden]>
connected the dots and wrote:

~On Sun, 5 Jun 2005 11:10:21 -0400, Tony P.
~<[email hidden]> wrote:
~
~>In article <[email hidden]>,
~>[email hidden] says...
~>> maxine in ri <[email hidden]> wrote:
~>>
~>> >From Science News:
~>> >Week of June 4, 2005; Vol. 167, No. 23 , p. 357
~>> >Decoding Garlic's Pizzazz: Extract stimulates taste, temperature
~>> >receptors
~>>
~>> Very interesting stuff. What baffles me the most is why I have
such a
~>> hard time finding any that is not half-dried and sprouting these
days.
~>> Haven't seen any good garlic for a long time.
~>
~>I've noticed that recently. The overall quality of produce in
general
~>has been going downhill in recent years. For example, the local
~>supermarket will put oranges that look like they've been through
hell
~>out for $1.00 each. Out of curiosity I bought one, dry and
tasteless.
~>
~>I have yet to see the produce manager show his smiling face. I
wonder
~>why.
~
~Most of the supermarkets here in Socal are selling Garlic heads
packed
~in the plastic netting sleeves, 5 or 6 heads together. Reading the
~label I'm finding it is a product of China. California being the No.
1
~Garlic producing state in the country, importing Chinese Garlic just
~doesn't compute. Although Garlic seems to be Garlic, I'd rather buy
~the domestic stuff and so, have to find a market where they sell
~loose heads and only then, if grown in California. Strange !!!

There are many sorts of garlic. Some friends made me a braid from
their garden, with 7 different cultivars<?>. Some were almost sweet,
others so hot I could barely cook with them. Some only had 4
good-sized cloves, others had dozens it seemed.

I've tried the ones from the Asian market, and they're sort of bland.
The ones I get in the Italian greengrocers around here are the best.

maxine in ri

I have a neighbour who grows a 'heritage' cultivar of garlic. This garlic
blows all the 'store-bought' stuff out of the water!
In Honduras, where I spend my Winters, I look ( in the mercado central) for
garlic with the roots on. This is a sign that this garlic is locally grown
and not imported from China or the USA. The flavour of the locally grown
product is intense! The imported garlic is, in four words, "not worth the
space".
Commerce has decided to sell us an inferior product.
Don't buy (into) it!

Ken.

I agree with Ken. Find one you like, break it apart and plant it. I have
been raising my own for about 7 years and this year I will be giving away a
lot more than I will eat. I know mine is organic, fresh and one I enjoy
eating.

Dwayne

"Ken Davey" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

maxine in ri said:

On Sun, 05 Jun 2005 13:33:30 -0700, Lou <[email hidden]>
connected the dots and wrote:

~On Sun, 5 Jun 2005 11:10:21 -0400, Tony P.
~<[email hidden]> wrote:
~
~>In article <[email hidden]>,
~>[email hidden] says...
~>> maxine in ri <[email hidden]> wrote:
~>>
~>> >From Science News:
~>> >Week of June 4, 2005; Vol. 167, No. 23 , p. 357
~>> >Decoding Garlic's Pizzazz: Extract stimulates taste, temperature
~>> >receptors
~>>
~>> Very interesting stuff. What baffles me the most is why I have
such a
~>> hard time finding any that is not half-dried and sprouting these
days.
~>> Haven't seen any good garlic for a long time.
~>
~>I've noticed that recently. The overall quality of produce in
general
~>has been going downhill in recent years. For example, the local
~>supermarket will put oranges that look like they've been through
hell
~>out for $1.00 each. Out of curiosity I bought one, dry and
tasteless.
~>
~>I have yet to see the produce manager show his smiling face. I
wonder
~>why.
~
~Most of the supermarkets here in Socal are selling Garlic heads
packed
~in the plastic netting sleeves, 5 or 6 heads together. Reading the
~label I'm finding it is a product of China. California being the No.
1
~Garlic producing state in the country, importing Chinese Garlic just
~doesn't compute. Although Garlic seems to be Garlic, I'd rather buy
~the domestic stuff and so, have to find a market where they sell
~loose heads and only then, if grown in California. Strange !!!

There are many sorts of garlic. Some friends made me a braid from
their garden, with 7 different cultivars<?>. Some were almost sweet,
others so hot I could barely cook with them. Some only had 4
good-sized cloves, others had dozens it seemed.

I've tried the ones from the Asian market, and they're sort of bland.
The ones I get in the Italian greengrocers around here are the best.

maxine in ri

I have a neighbour who grows a 'heritage' cultivar of garlic. This garlic
blows all the 'store-bought' stuff out of the water!
In Honduras, where I spend my Winters, I look ( in the mercado central)
for garlic with the roots on. This is a sign that this garlic is locally
grown and not imported from China or the USA. The flavour of the locally
grown product is intense! The imported garlic is, in four words, "not
worth the space".
Commerce has decided to sell us an inferior product.
Don't buy (into) it!

Ken.

Dwayne said:

I agree with Ken. Find one you like, break it apart and plant it. I have
been raising my own for about 7 years and this year I will be giving away a
lot more than I will eat. I know mine is organic, fresh and one I enjoy
eating.

As a regular garlic grower myself (9 different cultivars this year) I
heartily agree. Especially since it's one of the easiest things you
can grow (good weather tolerance, pest-resistant, the deer don't eat
it, and I can just plant it and more or less forget it). That, and
you can also learn the joys of cooking with garlic scapes.

--
Richard W Kaszeta
[email hidden]
http://www.kaszeta.org/rich

Gilroy, California, claims to be the garlic capital of the world, and
Christopher Ranch is the largest garlic grower in Gilroy. A couple of years
ago, they moved a large percentage of their garlic growing and packing
operation to China... seems it's cheaper there.

Living in Gilroy, I can still get locally grown garlic from the smaller
growers. It's definitely fresher and, of course, tastes better too.

Sharon

"Lou" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Tony P. said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

maxine in ri <[email hidden]> wrote:

>From Science News:
>Week of June 4, 2005; Vol. 167, No. 23 , p. 357
>Decoding Garlic's Pizzazz: Extract stimulates taste, temperature
>receptors

Very interesting stuff. What baffles me the most is why I have such a
hard time finding any that is not half-dried and sprouting these days.
Haven't seen any good garlic for a long time.

I've noticed that recently. The overall quality of produce in general
has been going downhill in recent years. For example, the local
supermarket will put oranges that look like they've been through hell
out for $1.00 each. Out of curiosity I bought one, dry and tasteless.

I have yet to see the produce manager show his smiling face. I wonder
why.

Most of the supermarkets here in Socal are selling Garlic heads packed
in the plastic netting sleeves, 5 or 6 heads together. Reading the
label I'm finding it is a product of China. California being the No. 1
Garlic producing state in the country, importing Chinese Garlic just
doesn't compute. Although Garlic seems to be Garlic, I'd rather buy
the domestic stuff and so, have to find a market where they sell
loose heads and only then, if grown in California. Strange !!!