GARLIC: An Edible Biography: The History, Politics

Called everything from rustic cure-all to Russian penicillin, Bronx vanilla and Italian perfume, garlic has been loved, worshipped and despised throughout history. No writer has ever captured the epic and roving story of garlic until now as we are taken on a grand tour of its fascinating role in history, medicine, literature and art, its controversial role in bigotry, mythology and superstition, and its indispensable contribution to the great cuisines of the world. The book offers 100 recipes including Goat Stew with fat, garlic, onions, sour milk and blood, Bird stew with similar ingredients, desserts like Garlic-Pecan Brittle, Green Garlic Risotto and Roast Garlic Soufflé in the Vegetarian section, Aioli, Bouillabaisse, Cuban Mojo Criollo Pulled Pork, Thai-Fried Garlic Pork called Moo Gratium, and Beef Tenderloin with Mustard Garlic Herb Crust and more. Lamb, poultry, appetisers like Beer-Battered Deep-Fried Garlic Cloves, this is an extraordinary and flavoursome book listing all the diversity of 274 varieties of garlic thanks to collectors, preservationists, importers and breeders, all simply described. And not forgetting the nomads on the Silk Road, men's health, bad taste and warding off evil. A lively historical and international tour of this stinky bulb. 260pp in softback, small remainder mark.