THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 19, 1995 TAG: 9510180027
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F1 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: FITNESS QUEST
SOURCE: BY MARY FLACHSENHAAR, SPECIAL TO FLAVOR
LENGTH: Long : 160 lines
GARLIC IS powerful.
Anyone who has ever eaten in an Italian restaurant, or simply driven past one, knows the power of a single smashed clove.
But garlic has many other powers, in addition to its ability to linger on the breath and in the air.
It has the power, for example, to make its admirers wax poetic.
``I couldn't cook without it,'' says Monroe Duncan, a 20-year veteran of the restaurant business in Hampton Roads who recently opened Suddenly Last Summer in Virginia Beach.
``No, I probably couldn't live without it,'' he says.
Although it has a reputation for keeping people distant from each other, garlic also has the power to bring people together.
Last weekend, a crowd of more than 8,000 collected in Amherst, Va., to celebrate the fifth annual Virginia Garlic Festival with a groaning board of garlic-laced foods and contests with a garlic theme. About 50 acres of elephant garlic, a variety that is larger and milder than regular garlic, is grown commercially in Virginia.
In Gilroy, Calif., the self-proclaimed garlic capital of the world, 95,000 people gathered to pay homage to garlic at a three-day festival in July. Since 1979, the event has been a beloved annual tradition in this small farming town, where the main crop is sometimes called ``the scented pearl.''
Garlic's healing powers are legendary. Many of our ancestors knew instinctively what the medical community is now proving scientifically: Garlic is good for us.
According to an old proverb, ``Garlic is better than 10 mothers.'' In ancient Rome, workers ate garlic for strength and soldiers ate it for courage. Hippocrates prescribed garlic for tumors. Sometimes called nature's penicillin, garlic was used to clean wounds during World War I.
Garlic has the power to keep mosquitoes off campers, fleas off dogs and vampires off the property. Some believers claim it can cure the common cold, ease the pain of arthritis, calm a bee sting or an attack of asthma.
Now a growing body of medical research strongly suggests that garlic does indeed have medicinal powers. It appears to lower blood pressure and cholesterol and to heal the cell damage caused by pollutants, radiation and aging. Population studies in Italy and China indicate that frequent garlic intake is associated with a reduced incidence of stomach cancer.
Prompted by these studies, researchers in the United States are conducting laboratory experiments and human clinical trials to verify the results. Much of that research is supported by grants from the National Cancer Institute and the American Institute for Cancer Research.
Dr. Chung S. Yang has been studying garlic for 10 years. A professor in the College of Pharmacy at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., Yang is cautiously optimistic about garlic's healing powers.
``Garlic probably has some protective quality,'' Yang said, acknowledging that there is a lot of faddism in its current popularity.
He has found that a plant compound called diallyl sulfide, one of more than 200 chemicals naturally occurring in garlic, reduced the rate of tumors in laboratory animals given a potent carcinogen. Yang's work also shows that the diallyl sulfide in garlic blocks the toxic effect of an acetaminophen overdose.
Yang says more work needs to be done, and warns that we cannot assume that garlic in supplement form will perform exactly as real garlic does.
``Supplements are different,'' he said. ``They resemble garlic, but they are not the biological equivalent.''
Dr. Eric Block agrees.
A professor of chemistry at the State University of New York in Albany, Block laid the groundwork for much of today's garlic research with his identification of the sulphur compounds in members of the garlic and onion family in the '80s. Like Chang, he believes not enough research has been done on garlic supplements to recommend their use.
``Fresh garlic is really hard to beat,'' Block said. ``In its natural form, garlic seems to lower blood lipids and offer modest protection against the development of some cancers. We have lots of information that garlic in its natural form is beneficial. We have practically no information that real garlic is harmful. A few people may be allergic to it, but the rest can eat garlic heartily.
``There's been an enormous amount of excitement about garlic lately,'' continued Block. ``What we're trying to do now is sort out the vast amount of data that's been collected over 4,000 years to figure out what's valid, what's not.''
There was indeed much excitement last Saturday and Sunday as contestants in the garlic-eating contest at the state garlic festival in Amherst ingested as much garlic as they could. The winner was Chris Tyler of Charlottesville, who wolfed down 2.6 ounces.
While the effort was noble, there are much more appealing ways to eat garlic. Inside are several recipes, including the one that took first place at the festival.
The back of a spice jar of garlic powder states that garlic makes any dish except dessert taste its best. Whoever wrote that has never been to Virginia's garlic festival, where garlic cookies and ice cream have been on the menu many times.
``One year a garlic-jalapeno-mint sorbet won the recipe contest,'' recalled Nancy Golden Gripp, festival president and garlic grower. She added that it was one of the best things she ever tasted.
So there. Garlic also has dessert power. MEMO: For information on next year's Virginia garlic festival, write the
Virginia Garlic Festival Association, Route 3, Box 185, Amherst, Va.
24521.
The Virginian-Pilot's Fitness Quest is a six-month project to inspire
our readers to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Through the end of the year,
we are focusing on health, exercise and diet. To learn more about
Fitness Quest, call Infoline at 640-5555 and then press BFIT (2348).
ILLUSTRATION: LAWRENCE JACKSON / The Virginian-Pilot
[color photo]
COOKING WITH GARLIC: QUICK TIPS
A recipe could be ruined if you don't have your garlic
definitions straight: A garlic clove is one section of the larger
garlic bulb or head.
When buying fresh garlic, select bulbs that are plump and firm,
not spongy, soft or shriveled. The paperlike covering may be white
or purplish-red.
Fresh garlic should be stored in a cool, dry place with plenty of
ventilation. Or you can store it in the refrigerator if you first
separate the cloves and immerse them, peeled or unpeeled, in olive
oil in a covered jar.
Fresh uncooked garlic is the most pungent when pureed, crushed or
finely minced. For a milder flavor, cook with whole cloves, peeled
or unpeeled. Whole cloves cooked for a long time have a sweet,
nutlike flavor.
To impart flavor to a soup or stew, place a clove of garlic on a
small pick or skewer, add it to the pot and remove it at the end of
cooking.
MORE TIPS ON PAGE F4
RECIPES, PLUS USES FOR ROASTED GARLIC: F4
GARLIC TIPS
To peel a single clove of garlic, cut off its root end, then
smash the clove on a cutting board with the flat side of a chef's
knife. The paper husk will split for easy removal.
To peel many cloves, microwave or drop them in boiling water for
a few seconds first.
Some who cook with garlic use a garlic press. Others claim that a
press makes garlic taste bitter and leaves too much of the meaty
pulp behind.
Garlic turns bitter when burned. Cook it slowly over low heat. It
also loses flavor the longer it cooks. For a more intense garlic
flavor, saute garlic and add to a dish at the end of its cooking
time.
One clove of garlic equals 1/8 teaspoon of garlic powder or 1/2
teaspoon garlic salt. If you use the latter, adjust the regular salt
in the recipe.
One of the most popular ways to prepare garlic is to bake a bulb
whole, for serving with a loaf of crusty bread. Here's how: Peel
away excess outer skin, leaving cloves unpeeled and bulb intact.
Place bulb in a lightly oiled covered casserole dish or garlic
baking dish. Drizzle bulb with small amount of olive oil. Add salt
and pepper, if desired. Baked, covered, at 350 degrees for about 45
minutes or until cloves can easily be squeezed out of their skins
onto bread.
by CNB