GARLIC
Garlic is often associated with the onion, because of its pungent
taste and similar appearance. It is a bulbous-rooted perennial plant.
Garlic root is a compound bulb consisting of several cloves enveloped
by a skin or membrane. A garlic bulb has a strong odor and an acrid
flavor.
Consider the garlic to be an onion on steroids.
Garlic's medicinal elements have been celebrated for thousands of
years. Pliny listed it as a remedy for sixty-one ailments.
Good quality garlic is completely dry with firm well-shaped cloves.
There is little difference in taste between white and red varieties.
Using a garlic press or crushing the cloves creates a stronger flavor,
as opposed to mincing it finely with a knife. This is only noticeable
when using the garlic raw. Small bulbs of garlic can be as much as
20 times as strong as larger bulbs.
Beneficial Effects:
Long considered a medicinal plant, garlic is high in sulphur and
iodine. Garlic can be mixed with parsley and used in the treatment
of high blood pressure. Garlic is used as a treatment for worms. Garlic
oil enemas are used to cleanse the bowel of pinworms.
Garlic has been long used as a treatment for tuberculosis. It is
believed to benefit the treatment of asthma and hay fever. Garlic is
used as an antiseptic because it contains a bacteria-fighting element
called crotonaldehyde.
Garlic stimulates the sexual glands.
"Garlick maketh a man wynke, drynke, and stynke."
Thomas Nash (16th Century poet)
