Garlic

Garlic we love you. You are possibly the best vegetable ever.

Summer 2022

Thank you for your understanding re Covid and the harvest/delivery changes. We really appreciate your support so much , we love growing food for you all. The garlic is cured, the last of our onions have been harvested and the first of the corno di toro peppers are ready ~ we are certainly coming towards autumn. Rest is coming for all of us, we are looking forward to gently shifting gears.

This terracotta figure was made in Ancient Greece in 350BC. The mule is carrying a mortar, inside is a pestle, cheese grater, a round of cheese and a bunch of garlic. It’s one of Graces favourite artefacts.

We gave our garlic a little bit longer in the ground this year ~ if you harvest too early the bulbs don’t have time to fully develop. But if you harvest too late the plants will begin to shoot and as a result, the garlic rots in storage. We’re getting better at finding that balance, and as a result lots of the cloves have their distinct purple skin and juicy bulbs.We are so happy to be cooking with cured, spicy full flavoured garlic again, we missed it!

22 December 2021

These young, green flower stems are known as scapes and are absolutely delicious! Commonly added to anything and everything, they are relatively mild and can be used raw as well as cooked. They make a great pesto!

Juicy garlic scapes are perfect in Christmas day salads, roasted or grilled whole with EVOO and salt.

This year we’ve continued to grown Dunganski garlic which is a purple stripe type. Classification names are not always the most inventive! However out of all the other garlic types commonly cultivated around the world it remains genetically closest to its wild counter parts in central Asia. In fact researchers think that all other cultivated garlic types have been bred out from this ancestral group.

Dunganski requires a long, cold period to stimulate bulb production and as a result of this it also produces true seed. Many garlic types that are more suited to warmer climates don’t require such conditions for bulb production however they don’t produce a seed head.

13 October 2021

The change in season is definitely here when we welcome Spring garlic. Spring garlic, AKA green garlic ~ is immature young garlic. At this stage in their growth, their cloves haven’t formed, their flavour is less spicy, and most of their greens are tender and ready for eating.

To prepare and eat it, we like to use it like scallions or leeks. There’s no need to peel any part of it, just chop the end off where the roots were, and chop the more brittle older green leaves away. We eat all the tender green leaves and all the white rib and developing white cloves.

Spring garlic is delicious chopped up finely and eaten raw in salad dressings. It tastes and looks beautiful charred on a grill, and its also very tasty pickled for a few hours in pickling liquid. In our kitchen we’re still eating heaps of soups, Spring garlic is perfect added fresh on top. Its great tossed through pasta, stewed with beans and is legit eaten on top of avocado on toast.

4 August 2021
When Grace was in Turkey she ate an Anatolian garlic and red kidney bean stew called Barbunya Pilaki ~ she ate it a lot. Its a simple, delicious soup that is all about the garlic ~ and in Istanbul its served with extra garlic paste on the table in case you want to add more.

This recipe for the stew is by Turkish chef Saniye Anne. Find it in Turkish here. Grace translated Saniye Anne’s recipe from Turkish, using google translate ~ here's the recipe below. We’ve imbedded Saniye Anne’s fabulous recipe video below too.

Anatolian garlic and red kidney bean stew

Ingredients: Half a kilo of boiled kidney beans; half a glass of water; 1 tablespoon of chili paste; 2 cloves of garlic; 1 potato; 1 tomato; 1 carrot; 1 onion; half a glass of olive oil.

“Method: Red Kidney Bean Stewing
Let's add water to the pot and chop the onion for food and soften it with water. Let's add olive oil on the transparent onions and continue to fry. Finely chop the garlic and add it to the pot. Then add the tomato paste and fry it until it smells. Let's add the peeled and finely chopped tomatoes on the roasted tomato paste .

Let's put the grated carrot on the softened tomatoes. After mixing for about a minute, let's pour the diced potato into the pot. After mixing for a few turns, let's add the boiled kidney beans to the pot. After mixing and adding salt, let's add enough water not to go over it. Kidney Bean Stew, which we left to cook on low heat, will be ready after about 20 minutes. Bon Appetit…”