Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Spice guide to Garlic along with all the Garlic containing recipes presented on this site, with 3717 recipes in total.

This is a continuation of an entire series of pages that will, I hope, allow my visitors to better navigate this site. As well as displaying recipes by name, country and region of origin I am now planning a whole series of pages where recipes can be located by meal type and main ingredient. This page gives a listing of all the spice-based recipes added to this site.

These recipes, all contain Garlic as a major flavouring.

Garlic, Allium sativum is probably one of the world's most ubiquitous spices. It is a member of the Amaryllidacea (amaryllis) family of flowering plants and belongs to the genus Allium. It's close relatives being onions, shallots, chives, wild bear garlic and rakkyo. Today it is grown world wide and the cultivars are sterile (they are dependent on humans for planting an individual bulbule from which a new plants grow).

As a result of the long cultivation of this plant (they have been in cultivation for at least 6000 years), the precise origin of the pant is not known. However, the greatest number of allium spices growing in the wild occur in central Asia. As such it is assumed that garlic originates from this region. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that garlic is descended from the wild species, Allium longisuspis which grows wild in central and south-western Asia.

Garlic has long been a staple of the Mediterranean region of Europe and is a common seasoning in Asia, Africa and the remainder of Europe. It was known to the Egyptians as a culinary and medicinal plant and the builders of the pyramids had their daily allocation of garlic.

The 'head of garlic', familiar to anyone who cooks with this spice is actually a bulb composed of a cluster of bulbules. A single bulbule is typically referred to as a 'clove of garlic'.

Garlic is a particularly pungent spice, though the pungency disappears after frying in oil (or baking for a lengthy period). The pungency and distinctive aroma of garlic is due to the large number of sulfur-containing compounds within each clove. The most important of these (at least for the taste of garlic) being allicin (diallyl disulphide oxide) which is generated enzymatically from the precursor allilin (S-2-propenyl-L-cysteine sulfoxide) upon cell damage (which is why chopping garlic releases the distinctive aroma). Howerver, allicin spontaneously deactivates to diallyl disulphide when left open to the air, which is why minced garlic quickly loses its pungency if not used immediately.

Garlic will grow in a wide variety of conditions, which is why it has been introduced world-wide and, today, is employed by just about every major cuisine.

The Romans and Greeks used garlic commonly, and it was given as part of soldiers' rations. In Britain, its use was much less common and only grew in popularity after the 1550s (though garlic is mentioned in the Forme of Cury [1390]).

The English word, Garlic (gārlēac) is believed to be Germanic in origin, with the first element gar being derived from the word for 'spear', referring to the pointed leaves. The second element, -lek has a cognate in the word 'leek' and refers to the family (onion or leek). Thus garlic is the 'spear-leafed leek'. The word 'clove', referring to an individual bulbules of garlic refers to the divisibility of the garlic bulbs and is derived from the verb 'to cleave'.

Garlic has a strong and charac­teristic odour, which is markedly different in fresh and fried state. The pungency of fresh garlic (see also negro pepper for pun­gent spices) van­ishes after cook­ing or fry­ing. Garlic contains a wealth of sulfur compounds; most important for the taste is allicin (diallyl di­sulphide oxide), which is produced enzymati­cally from alliin (S-2-propenyl-L-cysteine sulfoxide) if cells are damaged; its biological function is to repel herbi­vorous animals. Allicin is deacti­vated to diallyl di­sulphide; therefore, minced garlic changes its aroma if not used imme­diately. In the essential oil from steam distil­lation, diallyl di­sulphide (60%) is found besides diallyl tri­sulphide (20%), diallyl sulfide, ajoene and minor amounts of other di- and poly­sulphides. Sulfur com­pounds of this kind are typical for the onion family; see also bear’s garlic, onion and chives.

Though typically cooked in Europe (exceptions being Aïoli and Tzatzike), raw garlic is commonly used in the cuisines of China and Vietnam. In Thailand, garlic is often fried until crisp and is then used to garnish dishes.

One point to not is that one of the most common garlic cultivars, Elephant Garlic is not actually a true garlic at all, rather it is a cultivar of the wild leek, Allium ampeloprasum that develops large bulbils at the base.