Originating in the steppes of central Asia, and grown in the Middle East by the Sumerians over 5000 years ago, garlic was introduced into France by Godefroy de Bouillon, leader of the first crusade who, when he returned to the country in 1099, was elected king of Jerusalem.
For…
Praised by Virgil and the poets of antiquity, garlic was progressively introduced into various parts of Europe during the Romans' campaigns. Henri IV of France was so fond of garlic that, according to a Jurançon legend, the good king must have been baptized with a clove of garlic. Despite his royal station, the king was not above lending a hand in the kitchen: he became famous for his stewed chicken… studded with garlic, of course.
At the Persian court of Susa, it is estimated that 25 kg of garlic was consumed each day. Imagine the smell!
In Egypt unfaithful husbands relied on garlic's unique "scented" properties. According to Charmidas, they would chew a clove or two on their way home from visiting their mistresses so that their whole body was impregnated with the odour, ensuring that a jealous wife would be unable to detect any stranger's perfume.
And against…
The "stinking rose" was sold in large Greek towns and in Roman cities by peddlers. Garlic was a symbol of the proletariat since no noble would debase himself by smelling of garlic! Furthermore, every Greek who wished to enter the temple of Cybele, mother of the gods, had to pass a strict breath test aimed at detecting garlic.
Horace explained that garlic could be absorbed by the iron stomachs of the working class but made those used to more refined cooking feel unwell. In the year 1300, "You reek of garlic! Get out!" was the irrevocable judgment that befell any knight who dared appear at the court of King Alfonso de Castille with garlic on his breath. He was banned from court and not permitted to speak to other courtiers for an entire week.
From the sacred…
A belief in the sacredness of garlic can be traced back to the third millennium BC, when it was offered to the gods and painted on the walls of tombs. During both the era of Egypt's great pharaohs and the days of the earliest Chinese dynasties, garlic served as food, medicine and offering. It was found in the tomb of Tutankhamen and within the funerary complex of Saqqarah in the sacred animal cemetery (a vast necropolis in the region of Memphis), as well as in inscriptions in the pyramid of Giza.
To the profane…
Does garlic hold the secret of the great pyramids?
Egypt would not be Egypt without the great pyramids… but would the pyramids exist without garlic? That's the question you have to ask when you consider the importance of garlic to the land of the pharaohs. Almost 3000 years before Christ, foremen would make workers engaged in building the pyramids and the temples of Egypt's great pharaohs eat large quantities of garlic to give them more strength for their work, without having to increase their rations.
Herodotus (484-425 BC), when he arrived at the foot of the three famous pyramids was as awed as any tourist by the work involved in creating these magnificent structures. He learned that the hieroglyphs praised garlic's almighty power. This desire for life and strength after death pushed Kheops to sell his daughter into a bordello. "When he needed money," Herodotus wrote, "he had his daughter enter a house of ill-repute… she eventually made the sum that her father demanded. She wanted to have something made for herself and asked every man who came to her to give her a stone"… a way of amassing 1600 talents of silver - 40 tonnes - in order to buy the garlic, red onions and black radishes necessary to feed the slaves, an incentive that produced better results than the lash. And yet with each stone he put into place, the humble fellah gained a little piece of immortality. 100,000 workers worked on the site, putting up 200 stone blocks each day. They were relieved every three months.
Did somebody say vampire?
Modern representations of the vampire legend always seem to show braids of garlic hanging from the beams of kitchens in which poor peasants tremble with fear. The belief that garlic could combat evil dates back to the medieval era when children would play or work in the fields with cloves of garlic hung around their necks to protect them from the evil spells of the local witch… because everybody knows that witches love children!
This custom gradually changed, and in the 19th century, cloves of garlic adorned only the necks of cows and heifers.
During NoRuz, the Iranian new year which takes place around March 21 (depending on the year), tradition dictates that the table in every Iranian home be laid with "haft sin," or the seven "S's," seven symbolic elements which include "seer," or garlic, to chase away evil spirits.
A bite from a watch dog is much more cutting and painful if the dog has eaten garlic at the New Year.
Folklore from Germany and Czechoslovakia
Garlic is as good as ten mothers.
Proverb
Garlic is a panacea famous since ancient times. Its renown has survived both time and medical advances. It possesses both curative and preventative properties. In fact, it is rich in sulfurous elements, iodine, silica, ajoene and others. Garlic also contains allicin which stimulates blood circulation and kills bacteria. It is rich in germanium, calcium, copper, zinc, potassium, magnesium, selenium, vitamins A, B1 and C, essential fatty acids (Vitamin F) and dozens of antioxidant components that make it an indispensable part of the daily diet.
In the time of Pliny the Elder (23-79 BC) there were three areas of large-scale garlic cultivation since its advantages were undeniable, according to Pliny's treatise on natural history. "Garlic has powerful properties and provides defense during changes of water and residence… It is an antidote for shrew, dog and snake bites. It neutralizes the harmful effects of certain poisonous plants." Pliny recommends it for treating asthma, suppressing coughs and fighting intestinal parasites. It is an effective remedy without side effects for soothing toothache, either in a decoction, placed directly on the tooth, or soaked in vinegar. When mixed with fresh coriander in a glass of wine, garlic is an aphrodisiac. But, Pliny says, garlic must also be taken with caution since too much will cause burning in the stomach and flatulence and will lead man to drink.
In China, garlic is called Da-suan. Its earliest mention is in the book Various Notes from Famous Physicians, published during the time of the Northern and Southern dynasties in 510 BC.
During the great epidemics of the Middle Ages, doctors protected themselves from contracting infectious illness by wearing a mask with a long leather nosepiece smeared with a mixture of garlic and aromatic herbs.
In the Quebec countryside, until quite recently garlic was endowed with all sorts of powers. After having milked the cows, the farmer went home for a hearty breakfast, washed down with a shot of whiskey in which cloves of garlic had been soaked. Stinky but invigorated, he was ready to face the day!
In the fall, one had only to drink a cup of hot milk which had been simmered for half an hour with some garlic cloves to immunize the system against the rigours of winter. "The smell pervaded the surrounding area to such an extent that only one housewife needed to make her infusion for the whole village to join in."
Four thieves' vinegar
Four famous thieves were serving out their sentence by working in the charnel house. Destined to die sooner or later, they nonetheless escaped the terrible scourge of the epidemic by discovering a stash of wine vinegar in which garlic cloves had been soaking, and which they drank to quench their thirst between two bodies.
An old recipe to cure fever
Effective, and great for finding a seat on public transport!
Crush in a mortar:
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 5 parsley roots
- a large pinch of coarse salt
- 1 tbsp. soot
Apply this paste to both wrists;
Wrap with gauze or cloth and let work for nine days.
And present…
A nickel will get you on the subway,
but garlic will get you a seat.
Old New York saying
A touch of garlic invigorates;
too much garlic puts to sleep.
Curnonsky
Antibiotic (plain)
Modern medicine admits that garlic is a natural antibiotic which can play an important role in preventive medicine and as a therapeutic agent.
Anti-inflammatory (plain)
Allicin is a powerful anti-bacterial agent. Anti-poison and as a snake repellent (plain/juice) During harvest season, when high grasses could conceal sleeping snakes, Roman peasants ate a double ration of garlic at each meal to protect themselves from fatal snake bites. Shepherds in the mountains of eastern Europe would rub their hands with cloves of garlic before going to milk their flock to keep snakes away. In Quebec, Dr. Rainville, co-founder of the School of Veterinary Medicine in St. Hyacinthe, when going to attend sick animals, would always take a little flask of garlic juice to rub on his hands before touching them. In China a clove of garlic is used as a talisman against poison. Arabs still use it as an antidote to poison as do the inhabitants of numerous Third World countries, particularly against lead poisoning. Anthelmintic (Decoction) Garlic in a decoction of 25 g in 1 litre boiling water combats intestinal worms. In Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the Amish advocate the use of plain garlic and continue to treat intestinal worms in both man and animals with simple garlic cloves.
Anticarcinogen (Plain)
One of the areas in which garlic seems most effective is cancer prevention. According to numerous medical journals (American Chinese Medicine, Science, Journal of Urology) garlic can reduce even malignant tumours.
Garlic raises the immune system's level of response in defending the body, particularly against certain types of cancers including breast, stomach, colon and skin cancers.
Dr. Benjamin Law, professor in the department of microbiology at the University of Loma Linda, a California medical school, claims that garlic reduces the progression of parasitic fungus, an illness found in many people with AIDS. In brief, the illness is characterized by fever, symptoms of pneumonia and skin lesions, and garlic helps destroy the cancer-causing cells.
Promotes Longevity (Plain)
In the last century, an American sociologist from the National Institute of Gerontology did a study of mortality patterns in people aged 65 and over. He noticed a remarkable fact among over 8500 centenarians: for the most part, they consumed a great deal of garlic.
Antiseptic - Antibacterial
Garlic's bactericide properties in fighting bacterial, fungal and viral infections have been widely acknowledged, including by Louis Pasteur in 1858. Because of its high allyl sulfide content, garlic is increasingly replacing antibiotics in veterinary medicine.
Garlic, used in an infusion to clean wounds, is also used to treat cuts, burns and minor injuries.
Bechic (Plain)
Cardiovascular and Hypertensive Disease (Plain)
Investigators have recently proven that garlic contains ajoene which, like aspirin, prevents blood clots and thus contributes to better blood flow and protects the body against cardiovascular problems. It lowers blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
Clinical studies carried out in 15 countries have shown that garlic can slow arterial blockages and even reverse the process, according to cardiologist Arun Bordia of the Tagore Medical College in India. Garlic's effects in this regard are attributable to the presence of antioxidants capable of neutralizing the agents that contribute to arterial damage. It is credited with an ability to reduce atheroma plaques and to prevent the formation of new lesions.
Carminative (Plain)
Combats flu, angina and bronchitis (Plain)
It regularizes bronchial secretions and antirhumatismals
Anti-diarrhea (Plain)
Nothing is more unpleasant than being afflicted by diarrhea while travelling. Unfortunately, it's something that occurs quite frequently in certain countries. In order to fight off the bacteria that are found in food and the unpleasant consequences that result from them, you need only to eat one or two cloves of garlic before a meal, or chopped raw garlic sprinkled over the food. Cooked garlic will not work in this instance.
Depurative (Plain)
Purifies the blood
Disinfectant (Poultice)
Digestive (Plain)
Paradoxically, even though garlic is sometimes indigestible, it activates gastric secretions and stimulates the intestine.
Diuretic (Plain)
Reduces vaginal infections (Douche)
Lowers blood cholesterol (Plain)
Garlic has an effect on blood cholesterol levels, thanks to its allicin content. Allicin is formed when the amino acid alliin is converted into allicin by the alliinase enzyme when garlic is cut, chewed and ingested.
Expectorant (Steam)
Hypoglycemic (Plain)
Garlic is recommended to people with diabetes because of its hypoglycemic properties: it reduces blood sugar levels when eaten regularly. But be careful - the flip-side is that people with low blood sugar levels should avoid eating garlic regularly.
Hypotensive (Plain)
The iodine and silica found in garlic dilate the capillaries, which makes respiration easier and diminishes respiratory problems.
Protects against earache
Strengthens the immune system
Sanguine
Cf. cardiovascular properties
Stomachic (Plain)
Tonic (Plain)
Recognized since antiquity, garlic provided strength even to the most destitute (e.g., the slaves in the building of the pyramids). Greek and Roman commanders would make their soldiers take garlic before a battle to double their impact, since garlic is the plant favoured by Mars, the god of war, by which he becomes combative and invincible. This mysterious strength attributed to garlic allowed Ulysses to prevent being turned into a pig by Circe. The Provencal expression "Vait'en manja d'aiet!" - literally "Go and eat garlic" - really means "Go and become a soldier!"
Remember too the legend of the golden fleece in Greek mythology in which Medea rubbed Jason's body with garlic to protect him from her father's bulls.
Garlic was also the steroid of the era, easily detectable in all the athletes present at the Olympic Games.
Vermifuge (Plain)
Cataplasm
Version 1: peel several cloves; place them on a piece of gauze or sterilized cotton and flatten them with the flat side of a large knife to extract as much juice as possible, or use a juice extractor. Place the gauze on the infected part and leave it for about 10 minutes.
Version 2: mash several cloves of garlic into a paste and apply them to irritated skin.
Vaginal douche
- Infuse 4 cloves of minced garlic in 3 cups of boiling water for 30 minutes over low heat.
- Strain, let cool to lukewarm and use like any other vaginal douche.
Steam
- throw a few cloves of crushed garlic into a saucepan full of hot water;
- breath in the steam for five minutes, covering your head with a large bath towel.
Old-fashioned (definitely not modern) cosmetic uses
In the old days, women used to chew cloves of garlic for its sulfur content to keep their skin young and firm. While everyone knows a braid of garlic hung on the rafters of the house will keep away vampires, perhaps eating garlic was a talisman that kept young girls pure and virginal!
Household uses
Insecticide for the house or patio
Make a bowlful of strong tea with garlic and place on the table to keep away mosquitoes.
N.B. MSCOMM has gathered this information from preventative and natural medicine and from the popular traditions of various countries for your information and enjoyment, but MSComm declines all responsibility as to its use and does not intend that it be used as a substitute for conventional medicine. Note: Mothers who are breast-feeding should not consume too much garlic during this period, since garlic can alter the taste of the mother's milk - the baby may not be too fond of the rather distinctive flavour of this spice!
Georges Blanc, Restaurant Georges Blanc, France
Cooking hints