Sunday, June 17, 2001		Article

Pungent bulb with a heart of gold
Maharaaj K. Koul

THERE are people who cannot eat without it, while some detest the very name. And its pungent odour probably ended many a budding romance too. In the middle of the 18th century Siberian villagers in Russia paid their taxes with it. The Romans gave it to their labourers to impart srength and to their soldiers to incite courage. According to legend, if hung on the doors and windows, it keeps vampires away. And if hung around the neck, it was said to ward off the evil eye. It is garlic.

The reputation of the strong-smelling bulb is not merely based on its alleged ability to ward off blood-drinking counts, but rather on its many health-inducing qualities. Researchers have accepted these qualities and given a scientific base to long-held folk remedies. Raw garlic, it turns out, is an excellent, though smelly, natural broad-spectrum antimicrobial drug. It may also prevent cholesterol from clogging up arteries.

The garlic bulb has a long medical history. Herbal physicians in Egypt and ancient Greece used it to fight infections caused by a whole variety of pathogens. Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs appreciated garlic and according to an Egyptian medical text from about 1550 BC lists 800 prescriptions, 22 of which call for the application of garlic against heart complaints, insect bites, headaches, worms and boils. The Greek physician Hippocrates, known as the father of modern medicine, used garlic for a variety of infections and intestinal disorders. The ancient Romans nicknamed garlic ‘theriaca rusticorias’, meaning a cure-all for the poor.

As early as 3000 BC, Chinese scholars were writing in praise of garlic and it is also mentioned in the early Sanskrit writing. The sacrificial lambs of China were seasoned with garlic to make them more acceptable to the gods. And garlic is also mentioned in the Shih Ching (The Book of Song). This book of traditional ballads is said to have been written by Confucius.

Garlic was worshipped by the ancient Egyptians as a god. And its name was invoked at oath-taking ceremonies. Garlic was of such value to the Egyptians that 151bs of it were enough to purchase a healthy male slave. From the translation of the works of Greek historian Heredotus, we know that the workers constructing the Great Pyramid at Giza lived mainly on garlic and onion. It is reported that pyramid-builders, although surrounded by savage task-masters,, went on strike when deprived of their rations of garlic. And it took 100,000 men about 20 years to build the Great Pyramid.

In the Bible, Israelites longed for their native foods, including garlic. The Israelites, wandering in the Sinai desert with nothing but manna to keep them from starvation, complained bitterly at the absence of garlic in their diets. Garlic was the mainstay of the early Sumerian diet. The Vikings and Phoenicians packed garlic into their sea chests for long voyages. And in the Boccaccio’s Decameron, a love-stricken young man sent garlic to his lady in order to win her love — and he did.

Mention of garlic has been made in many literary works, too, including those of Shakespeare, Chaucer, Dante and Bacon. So popular did this bulb become in Europe that banquet guests were required to compose versus saluting it. The Kynsilaikka restaurant in Helsinki, Finland, even today serves garlic in everything from coffee to dessert and martinis.

Native to Siberia, garlic is a member of the lily family liliacae, genus allium sativum. There are around 300 members of this genus. Onions, scallions chieves and leeks also belong to the same family. Garlic contains volatile garlic essence, protein, phosphorus, iron, calcium, vitamins B1, B2 and C and nicotinic acid. The wondrous, acentric white bulb is said to cure everything from high blood pressure to impotence. Pungent garlic helps digestion and heightens appetite. Initial scientific research confirmed these time-honoured uses without recognising the active agent responsible for their success. Laboratory investigations showed that garlic is indeed a mild antibiotic.

There are over a dozen studies published all over the world confirming that garlic in various forms can reduce cholesterol. Lately, scientists in the USA and UK have published reports of useful data on garlic. New research shows that intake of garlic during pregnancy can reduce the risk of preeclampsia (high blood pressure and protein retention in urine).

Garlic is haute couture. You not only eat it, you flaunt it. Jewellers, one hears, are already crafting dinky little podholders on near invisible silver chains. Perfume manufacturers are buying up acres of the bulb. Garlic will be marketed by the pod, not the bulb, one silver clove at a time, gloved in its own silky cuticle. Peeling it will become ritual, subtle and erotic.

Arleux, a tiny French village of about 3,500 garlic growers is reputed to be the ‘garlic capital of the world’. In this village, some four hours north of Paris, near the Belgian border, garlic is passionately revered for its character and taste, and the growers scorn the scorners of this little white bulb. Garlic is a popular item in Arleux the whole year around, but in the middle of December each year this village stages a festival in honour of the smelly bulb which culminates in the selection of "Miss Garlic". The fortunate curvy blonde is awarded her weight in garlic which generally the winner consumes herself.

Stalls and stands are set upon Arleux’s winding main street during the annual garlic festival. These stalls dispense garlic products and garlic dishes of every kind. Free bowls of garlic soup are served from one of the stalls to tourists. Such take-home specialities as garlic cheese and sausages, dried and smoked garlic, garlands of braided garlic bulbs and hot slices of garlic bread are served from other stalls. The one-day festival comes to an end in the evening with the much-published garlic ball in the town hall, sumptuously decorated with stringed garlic knots. Arleux produces garlic worth more than Rs 3 million every year. It takes care of France’s domestic needs and allows export to other countries.

Believe it or not, Rory Timmins, a farmer from Oakville, Manitoba, Canada, has made the world’s largest garlic braid. The chain is 702.9 feet long and weighs 3,990 lb. And in Alonsa, another Manitoba village, it is against the law for farmers to attend a cattle auction within four hours after eating garlic.

Garlic is considered the "classic ingredient" in the national cuisine of many countries. It became a popular ingredient in American dishes mainly after World War II. Americans have discovered the virtues of garlic though the odour still turns off many. Half of all American dishes now have garlic in some form or the other. And the per capita consumption has gone up from a few ounces a year to 11 lb (compare to 20 lb in garlic-loving Thailand). California, which calls itself the garlic capital of the USA, organises a garlic festival in August every year. People from all over the USA attend this festival after paying an admission fee of $ 3 each. In the festival there are innumerable food stalls popularising garlic. True garlic lovers are invited to chew the bulb raw.

What is it about garlic that inspires such interest? Garlic is a terrific source of sulphur compounds, about 45 of them have been recognised. The most outstanding among them are ‘alliin’ and ‘alliinase’. They collide to give ‘allicin’, which has a brief but fierce life. At first crush, its rich molecules pop their cellulose pods and go scudding through your arteries, mopping up sludged fat, and squashing renegade cells till the round-trip is over and they jostle their way out through your lungs.

The problem of garlic breath is known worldwide. Suspected carriers of garlic breath can be spotted casually cupping a hand in front of their mouths and noses quickly exhaling and inhaling. There is very little that garlic lovers can do short of abstaining or apologising. Garlic growers recommend that those who do not like the odour can overcome it by chewing a piece of raw garlic. To get the scent off one’s breath, one method is to use a mouthwash or chewing gum. The Wall Street Journal has a different remedy to encounter garlic breath: "Eat a sprig of parsley to drown the smell". There is another solution to the problem of odour. A report in the US Medical Association’s journal suggests breath odours are caused by solid particles of food that remain in the mouth after eating. By brushing the teeth and tongue and rinsing the mouth with a three per cent solution of ‘Chloramine’, garlic odour would be banished.