If you’re a reader of my blog, you’ll know, it’s in every recipe. It’s a building block of any savory base. Onion, pepper and garlic are my go to mirepoix. But why? What is it about garlic? Does it have medicinal qualities? And, what about the vampire myth? Why is it so pungent raw, yet so smooth when cooked? Well, there’s some science, and some facts, and some stories to be told, so read on.
What and Where
The humble garlic is from the Allium family, along with onions, scallions, shallots, leaks and chives, amongst others. The origin of the English word can be traced back to the Anglo Saxon time. Because it’s stem has a spear shape, Gar is Anglo Saxon for spear, and, it is a member of the Leek family, hence Garleek, that in turn was shortened to Garlic. Although it’s difficult to pin down it’s origins, Asia and the far east seems to be a good starting point. Today about 70% of the total world production comes from China.
Although there are hundreds of different variants out there, the most popular is Allium Sativum. Sometimes known as culinary garlic, it produces a decent size globe with flavorful cloves. There is also purple garlic available at some stores, this strain is a little milder than Allium Sativum. You may also see Elephant garlic. It’s extremely large, and is more of a leek, with an even milder flavor.
The Smell
Garlic tends to get a bad rap, it can be pretty pungent (but only when raw), will easily overpower other ingredients in a dish, it stays on the breath (parsley can neutralize that). Well there are reasons for this, and, it has a lot to do with science. Garlic is made up of a lot of compounds, but, in this particular case, we’re interested in two of them. Alliinase and Alliin, and, they’re part of garlics’ own defense mechanism. Each of these are kept separated in the clove. However, when it is damaged by cutting, biting, smashing or such, and they get together, a chemical reaction occurs that creates Allicin. And that is the pungent smell and flavor. This defense mechanism would help to protect it from animals who quickly learned about raw garlic.
How to Cure the Smell
However, what the animals don’t know, and we do. Is that Allicin breaks down pretty quickly, and even faster when heated. The magic number here is 140 degrees. Then Allicin breaks down and the flavor mellows out. As overpowering as Allicin is in the raw, as it breaks down, it creates that sweet garlic flavor we’re looking for in a dish. Here is where the mechanics of chopping the clove comes into play.
If you watch cooking shows, you’ll see the chefs smash a the clove with the flat of a knife. It helps to remove the skin, however, it also helps to release as much of the Alliinase and Alliin as possible, in turn, making Allicin. You get the same result when finely dicing, but, obviously less when the clove is just sliced. So, depending on how the garlic is prepped, can control the amount of flavor in the dish.
I bought a jar of chopped garlic because I couldn’t find any decent fresh. However, when I cooked with it I certainly wasn’t able to get the desired result from my dish. Turns out Allicin is unstable, it degrades with heat, but also with time. So, if you want that great garlic taste, chop it fresh.
Vampires
Well, that’s the science and chemistry lesson, let’s move on the the story part. Vampires. The myth is vampires hate garlic, turns out, there’s some possible truth behind the stories. Porphyria, is a hereditary disease that affects the blood. It’s symptoms and effects mimic many of the vampire myths, and it also affected some of the Eastern European nobility in the middle ages. Anything containing sulfur can cause an adverse reaction to someone who has porphyria. Garlic is high in sulfur compounds, hence they would stay away from it.
It’s Healthy
When it comes to health, garlic has a long history of medical uses. The ancient Greeks and Egyptians believed in it, and there is mention of it in ancient Chinese medical texts. Firstly, garlic is very high in sulfur, and sulfur is the third most abundant chemical in the human body, behind calcium and phosphorus. It is essential to DNA repair, is found in the hair and skin. It is in many over the counter skin treatments, for acne and rosacea.
Multiple studies have shown that fresh garlic extract does have some antibiotic, anti fungal and anti microbial qualities. It is an ingredient in antibiotic Sulfonamide drugs, used to treat, amongst other things, UTI’s. Also, garlic affects blood pressure by preventing the production of a chemical that hardens the arteries. Many studies have shown that fresh garlic lowers cholesterol and is good for the blood.
There’s usually a grain of truth in the old herbal remedies. This is not to say we should dump the broad spectrum antibiotics we use today. But is certainly something that should be part of a healthy balanced diet.
And that is a little of the story behind garlic, and, why it has become an essential ingredient in so many of our dishes. It turns out there is a history behind so many of the basic ingredients that we use. I hope this post was informative, thank you for reading.