This month we are also celebrating National Garlic Month. This root vegetable belongs to the onion family, which also includes green garlic, elephant garlic, leeks, scallions and chives. The pungent, strong, earthy aromas and full-bodied flavors of these veggies are great for our health. In some cultures garlic has recognized healing properties and is used medicinally. There are about 300 different varieties of garlic grown worldwide and the colors are governed by the regions in which they are grown.
Garlic adds huge flavor when added to savory foods. It can be eaten raw, cooked, roasted, baked inside meat, seafood, and poultry, or smothered atop bread with olive oil and butter, to become the perfect crunch with a bowl of Italian spaghetti. Garlic can stand alone, too. It lends a delicate accent to the breakfast table under the guise of fluffy eggs. It can be masked in oils, pickled, combined with peppers and sauces closed inside vacuum-sealed jars. Some people even drink garlic juice. That must be something else! A great way to use a clove is to rub it on the inside of your salad bowl along with olive oil, salt and pepper. This process is called seasoning your bowl. Salads are a great way to include minced garlic.
To most cooks garlic is a national treasure. The flavor is worth its weight in gold, but thankfully it is very economical. This bulbous vegetable is sculpted in exotic artsy shapes and comes in an array of pastel hues. The outside bulb has a shell that is particularly interesting. It has a whisper-thin, tissue-papery exterior encasing the fleshy meat inside individually sectioned compartments. I cannot imagine how this exterior came to be. I have wrapped many a gift in my day, but none has ever been so lovingly adorned. 
Yes, garlic is a highly valuable and most of us really depend on its texture and the promise of that special something to turn our meal from ordinary, to extraordinary. It is that desired. These little bulbs would be sorely missed were no one to include them in their meals.
Garlic is popular worldwide and it is harvested early and then again later in the season. It is available year round fresh (some being imported), in jars or other recipes, and even frozen (all the labor intensive work of peeling has already been done), and raw peeled garlic is sold in tubs for convenience. It costs a little more, but having thirty or more peeled cloves of garlic at hand, can save a cook valuable time and unnecessary mess. In the U.S. alone we use over 250 million pounds of this vegetable every year, and as popular as it has become, that number is expected to rise significantly.
Gilroy, California is The Garlic Capital of the World, producing 90% of the garlic grown in the States. When I visited Gilroy in 1995, I could smell the garlic miles before we entered the city limits. Once there we saw rows upon rows of this plant growing as far as the eye could see. They even have a store called Garlic World where they sell numerous garlic products there and over the Internet, too. They claim they will ship up to 5,000 pounds. That’s a whole lot of garlic! There is a garlic festival sometime in the summer and not just in Gilroy. Search and see for yourself.
In times past garlic has been used to ward off vampires, and while I’m not sure if it works, I always keep some in the house. And talking of houses, in the last photograph is a rooftop in Saint George. The builder must have really loved garlic, or wanted to ward off evil demons. Whatever the reason the roof of their home is in the shape of a vegetable that the world will always love to eat. Garlic is a staple in most kitchens around the world. Try this recipe and mix it up, to make it your own. It’s a winner.
My Garlic Bread
1 loaf of fresh Italian or French Bread (split down the middle and opened up)
1 stick unsalted butter (more if necessary)
1 whole garlic bulb
1 Tbsp garlic powder
salt to taste (you may wish to sprinkle cheese and herbs, your preference)
1/4 cup olive oil (your discretion)
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1) Preheat oven to 425º
2) Prepare cookie sheet lined with heavy foil
3) Melt butter in small saucepan, stir in garlic powder, remove from stove and set aside
4) Peel the garlic and shell the cloves
5) Using garlic press mince each clove and put into the melted butter
6) Lay the bread face side up on the lined cookie sheet
7) Spread garlic butter equally over both sides of the bread, sprinkle with seasonings and drizzle olive oil
Cover with a sheet of foil and place on the middle rack of the oven
9) Bake about 8 minutes check for doneness (finish it off under the broiler * keep door partially ajar)
10) Turn on broiler and set underneath for a few minutes, until sizzling and browning
11) Remove from oven. Carefully move bread to cutting board, slice with a serrated knife
Enjoy!
