FOOD

FOOD FOR THOUGHT (And Belly)

GARLIC

magic, recipes, cures & other interesting snippets

This is my wonder herb to start off, I plan to bring you a herb or food topic every 2 weeks. Why garlic? – hahaha – it is winter, and apart from Vitamin C found in Oranges, Pineapples, kiwi & pills – Garlic seems to keep colds, coughs & the doctor at bay.

FACTS OF GARLIC

Rocambole / Giant Garlic – scorodoprasum > Mild Garlic flavoured bulb. Mauve flowers develop edible aerial bulbs.
Garlic - sativum > White flowers and flat solid leaves with culinary bulb.
Many native cultures throughout the Caribbean use garlic in religious rituals and divinations. Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, used garlic in infectious diseases and particularly prescribed it for intestinal disorders.
Garlic was used extensively in the battlefields during World War I (1914-1918) to treat and dress wounds and infections. Being a natural antibiotic and widely available, it was the most effective antiseptic available at the time.
Fresh garlic has many active constituents including alliin, allicin, alliinase and unique sulfur compounds. (Allicin and the sulfur compounds of garlic are the ingredients primarily responsible for garlic's potency as an antibiotic, anti-viral and a fungicide and for its use in treating high blood pressure, lowering cholesterol, and for helping to prevent certain types of cancer, as well as its use as an immune stimulant. Allicin is a strong antibiotic agent produced when the alliin and alliinase are merged together, as happens when a fresh garlic clove is crushed or chewed).
Garlic is part of the onion family – the value of these alliums is reflected in the Latin unio, “one large pearl”, and the Chinese name “jewel among vegetables”.
Pyramid builders and Roman Soldiers on marches were fed a daily ration of garlic – whose power even extended to protection from black magic & vampires, hence Count Dracula’s fear for it (Raise a hand if you did not know vampires don’t like garlic!) ;-)
Rabelais forgot about his stutter when he started talking about garlic
Garlic is also known as the stinking rose.
Garlic is chewed by some rugby teams, minutes before the game, to make them unbeatable – or just to irritate the opposite team in the scrum!
Garlic is a major flavoring in many cuisines.
The leaves of garlic have a lighter flavour.
Years ago there was a film “Garlic is as Good as Ten Mothers” – said to make you want to eat garlic with EVERYTHING.

Having memories of my father's dad sitting in a gloomy kitchen peeling garlic and eating it whole, was the motivator for not eating garlic until I were grown up – and grew some sense and appreciation about this herb.

GARLIC CURES

(No cure here given is replacement for doctor's prescriptions)

In my search for interesting snippets about garlic, I found this website: Earh Clinic http://www.earthclinic.com/Remedies/garlic.html. Wow – it is an amazing read, and uses for garlic that I would have never imagined.

Then there was a site that tells one more about “oil pulling” - Oil Pulling ("OP") is reported to cure: Mouth & Gum Disease; Stiff Joints; Allergies; Asthma; High Blood Sugar; Constipation; Migraines; Bronchitis; Eczema; Heart, Kidney, Lung Diseases; Leukemia; Arthritis; Meningitis; Insomnia; Menopause (hormonal issues); Cancer; AIDS; Chronic Infections; Varicose Veins; High Blood Pressure; Diabetes; Polio; Cracked Heels. – not all attributed to garlic, but the use of Garlic Oil for this is also mentioned.

Curious as how to this works – the oil gets gargled, and then spit out – taking care not to swallow any - Interestingly, Ayurveda advises oil gargling "to purify the taste-buds and the entire system", as explained by Dr Deepak Chopra in Perfect Health. According to this life science, the tongue is mapped by organ-locations -- that is, each section of the tongue is connected to the kidneys, lungs, spleen, liver, heart, pancreas, small intestines, stomach, colon, and spine.

Thus, an oil-mouth-massage soothes and stimulates the key meridians where taste meets organ.

A story was heard about a camp somewhere in mid-Africa, where sex workers use mixture of garlic, lemon & chili to “douche” with, and amazingly enough there are no HIV/AIDS found when tests were done. Mmmm – please don’t try this at home ;-)

HEALING POWERS OF GARLIC

Garlic has been used in herbal medicine to treat asthma, deafness, leprosy, bronchial, congestion, hardening of arteries, fevers, worms and liver and gall bladder trouble. Herbal books list it being useful in Leucoderma, leprosy, piles, worms, catarrhal disorders and cough. Additionally, it is reported that garlic is good for the heart, stimulates appetite, and is an energy tonic.

Garlic's unpleasant odor is due to its sulphur content. This mineral is contained to a greater degree in its volatile oil, which has remarkable medicinal virtues. Juice of garlic has a most beneficial effect on the entire system as it helps dissolve an accumulation of mucus in the sinus cavities, bronchial tubes and the lungs. It also helps expel poison from body through pores of the skin.

GARLIC TEA FOR COUGHS

Recipe:
Cut a garlic cube (whole bulb/head of garlic) into quarters and add to two 2 quarts of water.
Boil on low flame for at least one hour.
Strain and sip slowly.

Believe or not, this warm garlic soup has a very pleasant taste!

GARLIC juice or eaten raw to protect against fevers & colds

Eat or take the juice of a raw clove of garlic three times a day.

GARLIC for too much bile/gall

Taken out of “Oupa & Ouma se Boere Rate”

;-) take a whole bulb of garlic – put it into a bottle of dry jenewer/Gin. Drink 1 dessertspoon 3 times daily.

Eat one clove of garlic with a peace of bread each night before you go to bed – the bread is just to tame the garlic flavor. Wash down with a gulp of olive oil. Repeat this for a few nights.

GARLIC RECIPES

Aioli (Garlic Mayonnaise)

Makes 275ml

1 egg yolk

salt & black pepper

275ml olive oil

4 cloves of garlic

15ml wine vinegar

Beat the egg yolk for a minute or so, then start adding the oil, drop by drop, beating continuously.
When over half the oil has been added and the mixture has started to thicken, beat in the vinegar.
Add more oil drop by drop until it thickens again, then slowly pour in the rest. (If the mixture refuses to thicken or curdles, break a fresh egg yolk into a clean basin and slowly stir in the first mixture)
Crush or pound the garlic until fine, mix into the mayonnaise.

Garlic Butter/Margarine

250ml Margarine

30ml Crushed Garlic

Pinch of Dried Parsley

Cyan Pepper to Taste

Salt & Pepper to taste

Mix everything together, a dash of milk/mayonnaise can be added to create a more creamier spread.
Cheese or parmesan powder could be added for extra flavor
Onion finely chopped can also add to your garlic butter
Use to create your own garlic loafs, a dollop on spuds or even a light spread on a cracker.
Grill meat or fish
Insert into joints of meat before roasting or even bake with roast vegetables.

Garlic Chicken

Recipe taken out of a wonderful book that is hard to find on the shelves; “Die Lekkerste Lekker – Kerneels Breytenbach”

(said to show the healthy eaters from the normal cannibals)

1 Chicken – preferably free range

At least 40 garlic cloves

150ml dry white wine

2 rosemary sticks – fresh

2 thyme sticks – fresh

3 bay leaves

3 desert spoons of olive oil

Salt and freshly grinded pepper to taste

Bread of any kind – but a lot of it

Rub the salt and pepper into the chicken skin
Heat oil in a casserole, and “seal” the chicken till brown
Take off heat, take chicken out of the oil, and stir in the wine with the oil
Peal three quarters of the garlic and build a “bed” with it in the oil and wine mixture, till the bottom of the casserole is not really visible anymore.
Take the left over garlic and one stick of thyme and one of the rosemary – put it inside the chicken – jip – there where his heart was.
Put the rest of the herbs on top of the chicken, close the casserole tightly.
Leave in a oven for at least 2 hours in a oven of 180°C
Serve with vegetables & rice of your choice
The bread people… to dip and scrape that garlic out of the casserole … and enjoy till the cheekbones shines and the misquotes stay miles away from your blood.

And wha-la!! >>>

((interesting enough – to help with a garlic breath, take a teaspoon of mustard after a garlic meal. Or parsley or even Spa-tablets))

SUMMARY

Garlic is a gastric stimulant & helps with digestion.
It acts as an anti flatulent, carminative and diaphoretic.
It stimulates the kidneys and is diuretic in nature.
It is a tonic, giving strength & vitality
It is an expectorant having a special effect on the bronchial and pulmonary secretions.
It is beneficial for eyes & brain.
It helps to heal fractured bones
It is a great antiseptic.
It has Allicin, which has the property to destroy germs which are not killed by penicillin. As such, it is a very powerful germicidal.
It rehabilitates sexual malfunctions.
It improves functional activity of heavy smokers.
Half a raw garlic clove a day can increase body activity to dissolve blood clots, thereby preventing heart attacks and strokes.
A couple of raw garlic cloves daily can bring blood cholesterol levels down in heart patients.

(As seen on Earth Clinic http://www.earthclinic.com/Remedies/garlic.html )

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