Garlic

Garlic (Allium sativum) is a bulbous perennial food plant of the family Alliaceae. The word comes to us from Old English g?rl?ac, meaning "spear leek".

Classification

Classification of culinary garlic can be complex, with numerous cultivars being grown. The broadest division is into "hardneck" and "softneck" types; very broadly speaking, hardnecks have more intense flavours (which are more closely related to their wild ancestor) but lesser storage capabilities, while conversely softnecks are excellent "keepers" but often milder (those are broad-brush simplifications with numerous exceptions and half-exceptions). Within those two types, there are usually felt to be three subdivisions of hardnecks and two of softnecks. One scheme, with some flavour notes from a commercial grower, is this:

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• Hardneck:
• Rocambole - rich, full-bodied flavour
• Porcelain - much like rocambole
• Purple Stripe - these often win "baked-garlic" taste tests:
• Purple Stripe per se
• Glazed Purple Stripe
• Marbled Purple Stripe
• Softneck:
• Artichoke - "milder" flavours:
• Artichoke per se
• Asiatic
• Turban
• Silverskin:
• Silverskin per se - the familiar supermarket garlic
• Creole

The "wild garlic", "crow garlic" and "field garlic" of Britain are the species Allium ursinum, A. vineale and A. oleraceum, respectively. In North America, "wild garlic" or "crow garlic" is Allium vineale, and along with "wild onion" (also known as "meadow garlic" or "wild garlic") Allium canadensis, are common weeds in fields.

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