Garlic, A Super Herb

Health Benefits of garlic

Origin and Importance of Garlic

With all the herbs and spices known to man, none has been revered and reviled as the garlic. Throughout the ages, the use of garlic for its culinary and therapeutic properties has been embraced wholeheartedly to the point that it was worshiped as a god in some ancient cultures. Yet it has just passionately been rejected for this simple reason. when eaten raw, garlic leaves a strong scent on the breath of the eater.

A member of the lily family, garlic was called allium in Latin and bears the modern scientific name Allium sativum. Romance languages, descended as they are from Latin, refer to it with words that are clearly derived from allium-aglio in Italian, ail in French, ajo in Spanish, albo in Portuguese, allo in Galician and aio in Provencal of which the aioli the garlic flavored mayonnaise originally came from.

Garlic itself is believed to be of German, Scandinavian, Nordic, Celtic, Anglo-Saxon or even Slavic origin ( depending on what reference materials that you are reading). It's supposedly a combination of gar, a word for spear (a reference to the plant's slender pointed stalks) and lac or leac, meaning leek.

So shrouded in uncertainty is the history of garlic that is difficult to ascertain where the plant originated. According to one account, it first appeared in Siberia, where it was brought to Egypt by Asian nomadic tribes, and from Egypt it reached Europe after passing through India via the trade routes bound for eastern Asia. Another account says it is a native of the steppes of Central Asia and yet another claims it came from Sicily.

For sure, there's one account that captures the imagination. According to Muslim legend, the garlic sprang from Satan's left footprint (the onion appeared in his right footprint) as he was driven out of the Garden of Eden after man's fall. Throughout history, garlic has been used to cure or prevent just about every known malady like headache, toothache, fatigue, constipation, wounds, sores, infections, gangrene, cough, cold, asthma, tuberculosis, epilepsy, rheumatism, dropsy, leprosy, smallpox, the plague, jaundice, eczema, rabies, scabies, scurvy, impotence, hysteria, senility, insanity, insect bites, intestinal worms and even anthrax in cattle.

Garlic has also been used as a mean of diagnosing pregnancy, a cure for baldness and an antidote for snake bites. In 1608, during a highly infectious epidemic in London, French priests ministering to the afflicted were spared from the fatal disease while English clergymen fell victim to it. The Frenchmen's immunity was attributed to the presence of garlic in their diet.

In 1722, garlic gained the dubious reputation of being an effective protection against the plague where four thieves claimed that liberal application of garlic-flavored vinegar "immunized" them against the disease even as they plundered the corpses of the victim.

Health Benefits of Garlic

On the supernatural realm, garlic has been thought to ward off malignant spirits, deter witches and repel blood-thirsty vampires from helpless virgins. Modern research, on the other hand has yielded some astonishing findings. One study claims garlic can lower cholesterol by as much as nine percent. Another says it can ease high blood pressure by delaying the hardening of the blood vessels. Other studies, claims that it can prevent or cure a whole array of illness, ranging from the common cold and flu to cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Studies have also shown that garlic is a potent antibiotic capable of killing over 60 varieties of fungi and 20 strains of bacteria. It is said that even the blood of garlic eaters can eliminate bacteria (this may explain the French priest's immunity) and that vapor from freshly cut garlic can destroy bacteria at a distance of 20 centimeters.

There's one study that suggests garlic may also increase physical endurance. Ancient Olympian athletes are said to have chewed garlic to boost their strength and stamina and that laborers who built the pyramids were given a daily dosage of garlic for the same purpose.

As a food, garlic is eaten today in virtually every corner of the globe, even in countries where it was once scorned, such as Japan and England. One thing that makes garlic so universally accepted is its wide-ranging versatility. It can be eaten raw, sauteed, boiled, roasted and fried. It serves as an excellent flavoring for fish and seafood, poultry, red meat and even a plain vegetables.

Finely chopped raw garlic can be mixed into dips and sauces such as hummus and guacamole. Garlic butter makes a superb garnish for anything ranging from steak and pasta to escargots and French bread. Garlic chips can bring to life an otherwise bland bowl of congee.

Garlic figures in marinades for American barbecue as well as for Indonesian satay. Stir-fried dishes in China and Southeast Asia usually contain sauteed garlic. Garlic can be thrown into the roasting pan to enhance the flavor of chicken, lamb, beef, or pork. It can be simmered to complement other ingredients in a stew or boiled on its own to make sopa de ajo (Spanish garlic soup).

Garlic is as much as an essential ingredient of Indian curries as it is of Sichuan and Korean cuisine. It add zest to light salads as well as to heavy meat dishes. Pasta and pizza are practically unthinkable without garlic so as with the rice dishes like the paella.The same can be said about chili con carne and whole range of dishes from Mexico to Tierra del Fuego.

As for the garlic's peculiar scent, here's an easy tip to remember. The longer garlic is cooked the milder its smell becomes. Contemporary urban folklore says that one may confidently meet one's lover after a meal heavily flavored with garlic. Drink some red wine with your meal to mask the smell of garlic on your breath. Alternatively, if you live in Japan you can simply zip into the nearest convenience store and drink a bottle of Gorilla, which looks like one of those curious Japanese energy concoctions that miraculously erase all traces of garlic from your breath.

TIPS ON COOKING WITH GARLIC

So pervasive is garlic in Filipino cooking that aside from the obvious sinigang and nilaga, it is also an ingredients in many dishes like adobo, mechado, menudo, kaldereta, relleno, paksiw, papaitan, pansit bihon, sarsiado, pinakbet, Bicol express and ecabeche.They all contain garlic and they represent just a partial list of our garlic flavored culinary repertoire.

Most Filipino dishes are in fact based on gisa, which almost always entrails garlic and onion sauteed like a pair of inseparable twins. What few people realize is that the two bulbs actually belong to the same genus of plants and that one may sometimes dropped to enhance the flavor of the finished dish. A bad habit that Filipinos would do that must be corrected is the general tendency to overcook garlic. Garlic is thrown into the hot oil before the onion and fried until it is a crisp golden brown and sometimes even darker. Unless you are making garlic chips, garlic should not be allowed to turn brown. Not only does it destroy the flavor of garlic but it also imparts a somewhat bitter taste to it. To rectify this old habit, I suggests sauteing the garlic together with the onion, not before.

One thing that our old cucineros and cucineras did right was to always crush the garlic. Nowadays some cooks tend to bypass this procedure and simply chop the garlic. This a lazy shortcut that should be avoided. It has been proven that crushing the cloves produces a chemical reaction that brings out the full flavor of garlic.
Also Read Ayurveda Health Benefits of Garlic

By Amado D Petallana