Garlic

Garlic may well be the most potent herb on the planet.  Egyptian medical writings dating back to 1550 B.C.E. speak of its curative powers, Pliny listed it as being a remedy for over 60 ailments, and Romans ate it before going into battle to give them strength.  Garlic, it was believed, was the chosen herb of Mars, the Roman god of War.  The ancient Greek bards related the tale of Odysseus’ peril-fraught voyage back to Ithaca, during which he used Golden Garlic–or allium moly–to prevent the sorceress Circe from turning him into a pig.  Modern myth holds that garlic protects its bearer against vampires.

The “stinking rose,” as it is also called, was consumed as a vegetable in Europe in the medieval times.  Nowadays, it used throughout the world to flavor food.  It is an indispensable ingredient in sofrito–sauteéd garlic, onion, and tomato that is used as a base sauce in many Spanish and Italian dishes–and in pesto.  Middle-Eastern hummus wouldn’t be the same without garlic, nor would the kofta meat dumplings commonly eaten throughout the Mediterranean region.  Garlic is often included in guacamole.

If you want to roast garlic to obtain a more mellow flavor, it’s simple enough:  just cut off the top of the whole head, put in on a square of aluminum wrap and drizzle it with a bit of olive oil (and sprinkle it with salt and pepper if you like).  Wrap it completely in the foil and bake it at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes to an hour (depending on the size of the head).  The roasted cloves will easily slide out of their skins.  A fair warning, though:  roasted garlic tends to be sticky and messy!  You might want to work close to the sink.

Tags: egyptian, greek, herb history, italian, medieval, middle eastern, roman, spanish, stinking rose