Trina Clickner - A Miscellany of Garlic: From Paying Off Pyramids and Scaring Away Tigers to Inspiring Courage and Curing Hiccups, the Unusual Power Behind the Worlds Most Humble Vegetable

A Miscellany of

GARLIC

From Paying Off Pyramids and
Scaring Away Tigers to Inspiring Courage and
Curing Hiccups, the Unusual Power Behind the
Worlds Most Humble Vegetable

TRINA CLICKNER

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to best friends, and, in particular, to my mother Elise and her very best friend Harmonytwo magnificent moms, two unforgettable ladies.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I have always believed that the solution to practically everything is within my reach and that the answer needed is right there in front of me, awaiting my notice. In other words, spoken in the language of the mobile computing techno pioneer that has defined me now for well over two decades, the answer is literally right in the palm of my hand.

The opportunity of this project, A Miscellany of Garlic, and garlicthe super bulb itselfhave thankfully reinforced this fundamental belief at a time when I needed some reminding.

Heartfelt thanks go to my dear friends who are steadfast sources of encouragement no matter what expedition I embark upon. Even the burliest of my men friends have surprisingly admitted to exploring garlic remedies. The fact that even these manly men are willing to share their garlic experiments and experiences so openly with others amazes me. I thank you for sharing your stories and your its worked for me testimonials. Anecdotal evidenceright in front of me. Again.

Thanks go to my parents, to my grandparents (both the exciting set and the boring set), and my aunt Uncle Chrissy who collectively saw to it that I was armed with a good education, confidence, tenacity, and now a fiddle and a published book on garlic. Thank you for leading by example simply by living your eclectic livesit has allowed me the freedom to create my own professional path, to become an independent spinster with two basset hounds who believes in the possibilities of the nontraditional, the mystical, and the magical. And now garlic, too!

Thank you brother Todd for sharing your family garlic memories with me. I am still stunned that you remember Moms safe garlic handling methods and I dont. I also missed that garlic clove as lozenge remedy for sore throats and colds, so whats up with that? Why have I always thought that I was the only one paying attention at the family table?

And, overall, thank you, Internetyou are so powerful, and young, and awesome. Sometimes you are really full of it, but like a decent, entertaining friend, I cant imagine my life today without you. You have brought so many opportunities my way and have allowed me to meet so many great people. I am very grateful.

A huge thanks to the public libraries right here in delightful Dunedin, Florida and Rochester, New York. Old-fashioned, printed books inspire me. Special thanks to libraries everywhere for making it easy to find perfect publications and then have them delivered to my neighborhood library branch with a simple click of the re-quest it button. Books right at my fingertips. Now that was easy.

A final thank you to the garlic gurus, growers, and greats mentioned throughout this book. Thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge, resources, lyrics, drawings, tasting notes, and even your garlic crops with me. And thank you for being so enthusiastic about this book and about garlic.

INTRODUCTION

It has been used for everything from currency to a remedy for hiccups. In its hundreds of varieties it has been an essential part of world culture for 10,000 years. Ancient humans, huddled around their campfires in caves, bundled in bear skins knew of its properties. Today, chefs in kitchens gleaming with stainless steel appliances wouldnt be caught without it. In shops from Verona to Mexico City to Beijing, it dangles in long white and purple braids.

Its Latin name is allium sativum. You know it as common garlic. But theres nothing common about it.

Curious, isnt it, that such a humble vegetablea cousin of the onion, one nicknamed the stinking roseshould be so pervasive? And yet theres hardly a day that goes by in which you dont encounter it. Often, of course, you meet it in food; its the most common flavoring agent in the United States, beat out only by pepper. We find it in the food we buy for ourselves and our pets. Its in soup, salad dressing, mustard, and chips.

Yet throughout history weve found other ways to employ it. Weve used it as a health remedy, a mosquito repellent, a glue for binding porcelain and paper, a laxative, and an aphrodisiac. Garlands of it were hung over the cradles of newborns to protect them from evil spirits.

Not surprisingly, garlic is widely represented in the worlds art. Great painters such as Velazquez and Van Gogh put it in their pictures. A movie has been made about it, and it appears in poems and songs.

Its storied powers include repelling vampires and witches and preventing the spread of the Black Death during the Middle Ages. In modern times its been the basis of physical therapy. In the 1960s, Americans rediscovered garlic (along with much else) as a flavoring ingredient through the great Julia Child and her magnum opus, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Above all, garlic is something were passionate about. Thats true of no other vegetable. The world, in my experience, is divided into garlicphobes and those who love its acrid aroma and sharp, biting taste. Virtually no one, though, is indifferent to it.

Just ask some of the thousands of people who, every year, pour into the little town of Gilroy, CA, for the annual garlic festival. Those wandering the fairgrounds consume everything from garlic fries to garlic-flavored ice cream. They cheer on the contest to crown Miss Gilroy Garlic. Their devotion to this strange, unassuming little packet of flavor might be funny ... if it werent echoed by so many of us.

This book is a random collection of information about garlic. But its more than that. Its a celebration, a reflection of our extraordinary love affair with this, the humblest of vegetables.

Enjoy!

C HAPTER 1

GARLIC 101

Its a Bird! Its a Plane! Its Super Bulb!

Some foods provide more than just nourishment and garlic is one of the super foods in this particular category. Garlic is more than edibleits natures most powerful, versatile, and flavorful healer. Garlic has earned the distinguished honor of being referred to as the super bulb because of its medicinal powers. Since 3000 B.C.E. it has been cultivated and used worldwide to heal the body, to ease the mind, to ward off pesky vermin, and to protect against evils of all kinds.

Powerful, Herbal, Healing Vegetable

Garlic is often heralded as an ancient, magical, healing herb. Magical, healing, and ancient it is indeedand much more. But the fact is that garlic, which is used in herbal medicines around the world, is not really an herb at all. Garlic is a vegetable. But it is no ordinary vegetable.