Garlic, and what I love about you.

I love garlic. Its taste and smell. The way it looks carmellized and soft after roasting. My mouth waters at the thought.

There's tons of garlic lore out there. Good food... heart and immune health food, aphrodesiac, insect and vampire repellent. Bad food... some people are offended by the odor (wierdos.)

In 13th century France, ailee (a soupy sauce made of garlic, almonds and breadcrumbs ponded together with chicken broth) was benificial health aide. Chicken soup, almonds and garlic together - that's my kind of super food.

Hardneck/softneck: hardneck (rocambole) have a hard central stem and more robust flavor vs. softnecks which obviously have a shy flavor and thin grassy stems.

Buying garlic: only purchase firm, plump cloves. When garlic ages, it shrivels and sprouts green shoots. Common pink skinned = spanish garlic, thinner skin and (imho) is more forgiving in cooking and less bitter flavor in general. Elephant garlic = mild flavor, big bulbs. Green garlic = never even seen it. I hear it is very rare and delicate in flavor.

I could go on and on - this could easily be a garlic blog, there is so much to say about garlic. Check out this site for even more info: http://www.hoodrivergarlic.com/variety.htm = garlic of the month club. + Great garlic information resouce.