Recipe - Hardneck Garlics

Stephen Ceideburg
1 Text Only

These have a central flower stalk that hardens to a stem in the center of
the garlic head. Tricky to grow and generally much less productive than
"softneck" garlics, they are always more expensive. Examples include:

Rocambole. This is the most commonly planted specialty variety. The head is
coneshaped, with bright purple skin. The uniformly sized, wedgeshaped
cloves are clustered radially around the central stalk. The cloves easily
pop out of their papery skins. It has a strong flavor but is rarely bitter.

Spanish Roja. Similar to the Rocambole, but with a rounded head and skin
coloration that ranges from red to mahogany. Grown most commonly in the
Northwest.

Italian Red. A generic name given to redskinned, hardnecked garlics of
several different varieties.

SOFTNECK GARLICS

These do not have a central flower stalk. These are always used for
braiding. These include:

Mexican Pink. A common variety grown in Mexico, it is char acterized by
cloves that splinter outwards from the main head, somewhat like leaves on
an artichoke. The flavor is often quite hot.

Early and Late California White. This is the main garlic variety grown
commercially in California. It is very productive and is well adapted to
growing in hot weather. It has tight skins over both the cloves and the
whole head, which help make this garlic one of the best keepers.

Elephant Garlic. A cross between garlic and onion. The flavor is mild and
the texture is similar to an onion.

Other Useful Terminology

Green garlic. Garlic harvested before the bulb has matured and before skins
have formed around the cloves. It can be used like baby leeks. The flavor
is mild but distinctly garlicky.

Fresh garlic. Juicy, mature garlic sold before the skins have set or dried.
This is perishable and susceptible to mold.

Cured garlic. Most garlic is cured for about a month to allow the skins to
dry or set.

Sibella Kraus writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, 7/14/93.

Posted by Stephen Ceideburg

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini