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".

Preservation

The types differ not only in culinary qualities, but in storage potential. Under good storage conditions, which are not hard to achieve (room temperature and medium to low humidity), one can hope for these results:

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• Asiatic and Turban types: a few months
• Rocambole and Purple Stripe types: 6 months
• Porcelain and Artichoke types: 8 to 10 months
• Silverskin (including Creole) types: up to a full year

Rocamboles, however, have a tendency to dehydrate in storage under dry conditions (less than about 50% humidity).

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The bulbs are best preserved hung in a dry place. If of fair size, four to six of them weigh about 500 g (1 lb). To prevent the plant from running to leaf, Pliny (Nat. Hist. xix. 34) advised bending the stalk downward and covering with earth; seeding, he observes, may be prevented by twisting the stalk (by "seeding", he mostly likely means the development of small, less potent bulbs).

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