Origins of Garlic.
Today I’d like to share the origins & fun facts about garlic.
But before I get into the origins & facts about garlic that it is the most widely used herb in cooking here in Australia & around the world today especially in Asian,Italian & Central Asian cuisine..
Garlic is one of the worlds oldest cultivated crops & can find its origins dating back thousands of years to Central Asia & Northern Iran & it was these garlic lovers that introduced the pungent herb into Egypt,Pakistan,India,China & Europe.
Garlic has long been a common seasoning worldwide & has been used as a food flavouring,medicine & even currency.
Over thousands of years garlic has been used as an offering to the gods,an aphrodisiac & even magic potions but also despised as only being suitable to be fed to pigs.
In medieval times garlic was hung over doorways to protect those inside & ward off evil spirits.
Garlic was used by the ancient greek athletes & warriors as garlic gave them strength,garlic also protected young maidens & pregnant women from evil nymphs & garlic was rubbed on door frames to keep out those blood thirsty vampires.Wearing a garlic necklace warded off witches & even kept away the Black Death.
In ancient Egypt garlic was worshipped as a god & even used as currency.Due to garlics pungent flavour many people in ancient Greece had to pass a garlic breath test upon entering a temple.In England garlic breath was deemed unsuitable for young ladies & the yoing men that courted them.In the United Stated the Americans adopted the English attitude & didn’t embrace garlic until the 1940s as it had long been considered an ‘ethnic ingredient’ & was commonly known as ‘Italian Perfume’.In ancient China doctors prescibed garlic to cure intimacy problems & cheating husbands would chew garlic to hide the scent of that other woman 
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Garlic contains vitamin C,vitamin B6 & many antioxidants & is effective against high blood pressure,cardiovascular disease,cholesterol,colds,some cancers,respiratory complaints,arthritis,relieve constipation,toothaches & even flu like symtoms.
Another little fact about garlic is that China is the biggest producer growing 66% of the worlds garlic & in the the US the 19th of April is National Garlic day.
Did you know that there are 300 varieties of garlic grown around the world & that garlic is a member of the lily family which also includes onions,leeks & shallots,also eating raw or freshly minced garlic will give you the best health benefits & if you have to cook it due to the smell you would have to cook 4 1/2 more garlic to achieve the same benefits.
Rubbing garlic on cuts & abrasions can also help the wound heal alot faster.
For me personally I’m a big fan of garlic & cook with it almost everyday (might have something to do with my European background)
Apart from cooking,garlic has so many other uses, and who’d have thought that this smelly pungent herb has such a rich & interesting history dating back 5000 years !!!
Thanks for reading ?
