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National Garlic Day
 19th April is national Garlic Day
Whether you love it or hate it, the health benefits of eating garlic are now
universally hailed. Although native to Asia, it’s been used in various parts of
the world for thousands of years both for culinary and medicinal purposes such
as treating wounds, infections and intestinal parasites and is even mentioned in
Egyptian hieroglyphs. In fact, surgeons in World War I even used it when they
ran out of antiseptics in the field. Today many scientists have concluded from the results of
numerous clinical trials, that garlic not only has anti-bacterial properties but
also helps lower cholesterol and blood pressure.
Garlic also contains allyl sulfur compounds which are currently being studied by
the National Cancer Institute for their ability to slow or prevent the growth of
tumour cells which may prove effective in fighting certain cancers. Try not to
overdo it though, as excessive intake can have harmful side effects from
diarrhoea to a decrease in calcium levels, so limit your intake to 1 to 2 cloves
a day.
If the above hasn’t convinced you to eat garlic, at least on National Garlic
Day, below are some other reasons to encourage you which have been recognised
throughout the ages, although it should be noted that they haven’t yet been
conclusively proved:-
Repels Vampires
Cures warts
Grows hair
Wards off the evil eye
Prevents catching the Plague
No vampires or plague in your district? Then why not just eat it for the
wonderful flavour. A word of caution. It’s worth noting that the smaller you
chop garlic, the more pungent it becomes. Garlic cloves which are cooked whole
are generally quite mild, whereas garlic which has been pushed through a garlic
press is 10 times stronger than garlic which has been chopped with a knife. So,
if you want a milder tasting dish, either add whole cloves or lightly crush with
the flat surface of a knife.
Why stop there? If you’ve never grown garlic, try growing a couple of plants in
pots or containers - there’s nothing better than picking your own fresh garlic
which tends to be much sweeter than the dried garlic you buy in the shops. It’s
really simple and there’s still time to get them in before the end of April.
Simply buy a bulb from your supermarket or greengrocer and divide it into
cloves, making sure you leave the skin on the individual segments. Fill
13cm/5-inch pots with ordinary potting compost and plant one clove per pot,
pointed end upwards, in an upright position about 5cm/2-inches deep. There
should be 2.5cm/1-inch of compost covering the tip. Water the container well and
place in the sunniest position available.
From early-June, feed with a general plant food every two weeks until mid
August. Stop feeding and watering in late August and by mid/late September you
should have a fully formed bulb waiting to be harvested….and eaten!
In the meantime, celebrate National Garlic day on 19th April by cooking the
fabulous recipe below. If this one doesn’t take your fancy, you can find
hundreds more recipes using garlic on this site. Use the
Search form to find them all
Garlic Linguine with Mushrooms
Vegetarian Main Course
Serves 4 Prep and cooking time 20 minutes
Ingredients
Salt
Water
450g/1lb Linguine
25g/1oz Butter
90ml/3fl.oz. Olive Oil
4 Garlic Cloves, thinly sliced
450g/1lb Mushrooms, sliced
2 tbsp freshly chopped Parsley
Black Pepper
Instructions
1. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil.
2. Add plenty of salt and the linguine and cook for 8-10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, heat the oil and garlic in a saucepan then add the mushrooms and
sauté gently until golden, stirring from time to time.
4. Add the parsley, salt and pepper to the mushroom mixture and mix well.
5. Drain the cooked pasta well, return to the rinsed out pan and stir in the oil
and garlic mixture, tossing to coat well. Serve immediately.
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