Gilroy: Garlic Capital of the World
Something stinks in Gilroy, California! That's because Gilroy, the self-styled Garlic Capital of the World, is gearing up for its 28th annual garlic festival. From July 27th through 29th, 2007, folks from around the world will descend upon Gilroy to consume two tons of garlic in any number of preparations, including such gastronomically questionable creations as garlic ice cream and chocolate garlic peanut butter cups.
The festival has been held every summer since 1978, when the idea was first cooked up to counter a French claim that Arleux, France, not Gilroy, was the world's garlic capital. Galled by this Gallic misappropriation, Gilroy's faithful set forth to situate their burg as the bulbous herb's true international seat of power.
Since then, the festival has grown from a sparsely attended luncheon to an internationally recognized fête to which thousands flock. To date, more than three million people have attended the annual event.
Find out more about the festival at gilroygarlicfestival.com.
Garlic: A Love-Hate Relationship
What is it about this herb that brings hordes to Gilroy? Like generations before us, we seem to have a love-hate relationship with it.
For centuries garlic has been the bogeyman of ingredients. The upper classes thumbed their noses at its strong smell and considered it food fit only for laborers. Consequently, garlic was assigned strength- and endurance-building attributes. Egyptian slaves built the pyramids on a heavily garlic-fortified diet.
Some cultures have embraced garlic more fully than others. Southern European cooking uses it with a flourish, while in northern Europe, it is used only sparingly and is cooked more thoroughly to take the sting off its hot flavor.
Making the Odorous Less Onerous
Shakespeare cautioned, “Eat no onions or garlic, for we are to utter sweet breath.” No doubt eating garlic can have an onerously odorous effect upon the breath.
However, cooking your garlic can ameliorate the stinky sting somewhat. Cooking mellows garlic's hot flavor, transforming it into something savory, earthy and nutty. Once cooked, garlic infuses deep flavor to soups and sauces and pairs wonderfully with tomatoes, parsley, onions and ginger. The natural sugars in garlic cause it to brown nicely in butter or olive oil.
You'll notice that minced garlic smells much stronger than whole uncrushed cloves. In fact, it's only when garlic cloves are cut into or crushed, and the cellular walls breached, that an odor-causing reaction takes place, as enzymes mix with volatile sulfur-containing compounds. These sulfur compounds pass undigested into the blood stream; they then enter and linger in our lung tissue, where they make their menacing mark upon the breath. Eating parsley is commonly believed to fight off garlic breath, but it offers only temporary relief. Time is the only true cure.
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