| It
doesn’t seem all that long ago that the use of garlic in
cooking was frowned upon in this and other Anglo-Saxon societies.
The slightest whiff of garlic on the breath could suggest to colleagues
a lunch-hour of almost unimaginable Bohemian decadence. The most
daring concept of an exotic meal out was dim sims and a sweet-and-sour
from the local ‘Chinese.’
Those
days are pretty much gone now, and we mainly have to thank the
post-war influx of European migrants for this. Their culinary
habits were a definite departure from the ‘meat-and-three-veg’
tradition so lovingly transported from the old country. Nowadays
our cities offer a vast array of restaurants serving up recipes
from dozens of different countries. And garlic is used just about
everywhere to enrich the flavours of many types of dishes, ranging
from the simplicity of garlic bread to the complex structure of
a well-prepared Indian curry.
There’s
nothing at all new about using garlic in cooking -- its use goes
back to beyond recorded history and is believed to have originated
somewhere in central Asia, and the Ancient Chinese are known to
have grown it. The Egyptians, who revered garlic as a sacred plant,
are known to have cultivated it, along with leeks and onions,
as early as 3200 BC, and there are references to it in the Bible.
Though the Greeks weren’t so keen, the Romans thought it
was pretty good stuff, and they can be blamed for introducing
it into the rest of Europe (and thus, generally, into Western
society) as their legions of centurions trampled about colonizing
with their retinues of caterers and kitchen gardeners.
In
fact, garlic has been cultivated by man for so long that it is
almost certain there is none left growing in its wild state anywhere.
Several of its wild relatives can still be found growing in Europe,
all with the same characteristic odour, but with little medicinal
or culinary value.
Its culinary values aside, the medicinal benefits of garlic are
legendary. It is one of the strongest antiseptics and disinfectants
known. Hip-pocrates classed garlic among the drugs useful for
bringing on a sweat and in curing of fevers, and said ‘garlic
is hot, laxative and diuretic, but is bad for the eyes.’
The prophet Mohammed is reputed to have said ‘In cases of
stings and bites by poisonous animals, garlic acts as a theriac
(antidote for poisoning). Applied to the spot bitten by a viper,
or sting of scorpion, it produces successful results.’
In
mediaeval Europe, a clove held continuously in the mouth was believed
to be a protection against the plague. It was the principal ingredient
in the French ‘Four Thieves Vinegar,’ which served
the same purpose. A syrup of garlic was made for respiratory illnesses
such as asthma and bronchitis, and was prepared by boiling garlic
cloves until soft, then adding a similar volume of vinegar and
enough sugar to sweeten the mixture and form a syrup. It was also
regarded as a cure for leprosy.
It has also been regarded as a powerful preventative measure against
parasitic worms, bacteria and fungi, as well as providing relief
from flatulence. It also increases the flow of bile and lowers
blood pressure. External application, however, irritates the skin
and may cause blisters and inflammation.
There was also a superstition in Europe, dating back to Ancient
Greece, that the chewing of garlic by athletes would prevent other
competitors from passing them in the stadium.
Garlic,
Allium sativum, is a member of the Liliaceae family,
and is thus closely related not only to onions, chives, shallots
and leeks, but to liliums and the many other ornamental members
of the same family. It is a hardy biennial or perennial bulbous
plant, normally treated in cultivation as an annual. It’s
grown for its compound bulb, which contains up to twenty individual
cloves, bulblets or bulbils, which are enclosed in a white parchment-like
skin. The characteristic odour of garlic is present in the whole
plant, but is strongest in the bulb. A flower stalk grows erect
from the bulb to a height of up to 60 centimetres, surrounded
by long flat leaves. Its flowers are like pincushions and similar
to chives and other members of the family, white, tinged with
pink or purple. Although there is a larger ‘Jumbo’
variety, Allium scorodoprasm, for most purposes the stronger
small common garlic is the most suitable for home cultivation.
Cultivation
Since
the two plants are so closely related, garlic can be grown just
about anywhere that onions are already known to succeed. Also,
the techniques for cultivation are, by and large, much the same
as for the rest of the family. Try to obtain good healthy cloves
from a reliably chemical-free environment -- either another grower
or a greengrocer whose word you can trust that no chemicals have
been applied during growth, handling or storage. Garlic can be
planted in most areas anytime between April and early spring,
although in tropical and subtropical areas the time for planting
should be reduced to between February and May, so that harvesting
may take place before the ‘wet’ precipitates rot.
Choose
a sunny position, dig the soil over finely, adding if possible
some well-composted organic matter, but no fertilizer as such.
Like onions and other members of the family, garlic will only
succeed in an alkaline soil with a pH of up to 8, so you will
almost certainly need to add lime to your soil prior to planting.
Split the bulb into its individual cloves and push them into the
cultivated soil so that they’re just below the surface about
15cm apart -- they should sprout easily in a few days.
Don’t overfeed the growing bulbs with manures or other fertilizers
containing large amounts of nitrogen, as this will result in a
large soft bulb with poor keeping qualities. Instead, aim for
a ‘complete’ fertilizer containing plenty of phosphorous
-- traditionally superphosphate has served this purpose. Blood
and bone can cause problems with maggots.
Plants
should be ready to harvest about four or five months after planting,
when the leaves start losing their colour and the plants start
to fall over. The whole plant should be pulled up and left to
dry in sunlight on the ground for about three weeks. Unless you
seriously want to try to plait the plants by their dried leaves,
the cloves can be detached, without skinning them, and stored
in dark and dry corner somewhere until you’re ready to use
them. Hanging them in a string bag is a good idea, giving them
plenty of ventilation.
Don’t
restrict your planting of garlic to the vegetable garden as a
‘mono-cultured crop.’ Keep in mind its tremendous
value in companion planting. Clumps of garlic grown around roses,
for example, are said to enhance the fragrance of the rose flowers
and keep aphids at bay. Aphids and other insects can also be controlled
using garlic sprays, and I’ve included Jane Edmanson’s
tried and tested recipe, below, as an easily-made safe alternative
to the shop-bought sprays.
Garlic
planted under apple trees will protect them against apple scab,
and likewise under peach and nectarine trees to help reduce leaf-curl.
It will help fend mites off tomato plants, as well as helping
to keep mosquitoes at bay.
When
selecting your planting position, be aware, however, that there
are some plants, like humans, which find garlic positively repulsive.
These include beans, peas, strawberries and members of the brassica
family, such as cabbages.
Home-made
garlic spray
by
Jane Edmanson
There
are alternatives to harsh chemicals that can be home-made to repel
many of the various insects that abound in the garden. Aphis are
constant problems, especially on roses, as they do their damage
by sucking the sap from buds, shoots and flowers. One alternative
is to make a garlic spray, so here is a recipe for a spray which,
if used regularly, can repel aphis and other insects in a natural
fashion.
Crush several cloves of garlic and mix with 2 tablespoons of paraffin
oil.
Leave to stand overnight. In a separate container, mix half a
litre of water with flakes of soft soap.
Strain the garlic and paraffin oil into this soapy water through
a piece of cheesecloth.
This is a fairly strong concoction, so it can be diluted with
water. Put the mixture into a mist spray and keep those aphis
at bay.
|
