One Nation Under Garlic

[Chefnot]

How Gilroy turned a potent Italian bulb into a culinary staple and the country's biggest and smelliest food festival
By Stett Holbrook


THIRTY YEARS AGO, a group of American food writers trooped into a packing shed at Gilroy's Christopher Ranch off Highway 101. Greeted by the pungent aroma of millions of garlic cloves being processed in the building, the journalists sat down for a garlic-laced lunch that included scampi, calamari, pasta and pepper steak.

News & Culture | 30th Gilroy Garlic Festival

A bunch on the stinky little bulb.

[ibcheft]

I wonder are they going to do a new show on this festival, they keep showing the same one, from goodness I don't remember when, but it is time to replace it. Emeril is the only chef I know on TV that gets a standing ovation when adding garlic, I even seen Bobby Flay when at South Beach ask why that is, of course no one answered.

[cyberdoc]

If it doen't have garlic in it, it's not cooking.

[Food Network Fan]

You are really Emeril aren't you?

[cyberdoc]

Originally Posted by Food Network Fan

You are really Emeril aren't you?

I'll never tell.

[Chefnot]

I like it don't get me wrong. But I sure don't like it when it's the only thing in the food I'm eating that I can taste.

[BerryBaby]

I agree. One time, I think it was Giada, put in 12 (!) cloves of garlic in something she was making. I'm Sicilian and a couple is enough for any dish I make.

[Food Network Fan]

I love it, but there are times when it's a bit much. Right after we were first married we were living in apartment housing at Fort Knox and you had to share a kitchen with an apartment on the other side. the door locked from your side so you had to keep all of your food and dishes in the apartment and take them in the kitchen to use. The refrigerator was in the bedroom.

We used to buy pizza at a place on post that had a LOT of garlic and I loved it. But when we saved leftovers in the fridge and my husband would get up at 5 am and open the door to get the milk out the smell of garlic would nearly knock you out of bed.

5AM is a little early for garlic pizza.... in your bedroom.

[ping]

Garlic is wonderful as long as it isn't over used.
I know what you mean about pizza with garlic on it. There is a pizzeria here that makes a really good garlic topped pizza but it sure does kill the fridge.

[bakerman]

Alton brown has a recipe in his book where you brown chicken pieces in olive oil and then add like 9 shallots and maybe a dozen cloves of whole garlic with some fresh herbs, add more olive oil and braise covered in the oven, this dish is heaven leaving the cloves whole and braising for an hour and a half makes the garlic really sweet and the chicken soft and succulent. I gotta make this again some time.

MAC