CHAP. 34—GARLIC.
Garlic
1 is generally supposed, in the country more particularly, to be a good specific
2 for numerous maladies. The ex-
ternal coat consists of membranes of remarkable fineness, which
are universally discarded when the vegetable is used; the inner
part being formed by the union of several cloves, each of which
has also a separate coat of its own. The flavour of it is pungent, and the more numerous the cloves the more pungent it
is. Like the onion, it imparts an offensive smell to the breath;
but this is not the case when it is cooked. The various species
of garlic are distinguished by the periods at which they ripen:
the early kind becomes fit for use in sixty days. Another distinction, too, is formed by the relative size of the heads. Ulpicum
3, also, generally known to the Greeks as "Cyprian garlic,"
belongs to this class; by some persons it is called "antiscorodon," and in Africa more particularly it holds a high rank
among the dishes of the rural population; it is of a larger size
than ordinary garlic. When beaten up with oil and vinegar,
it is quite surprising what a quantity of creaming foam is produced.
There are some persons who recommend that neither ulpicum
nor garlic should be sown on level ground, but say that they
should be planted in little mounds trenched up, at a distance of
three feet apart. Between each clove, they say, there should
be a distance of four fingers left, and as soon as ever three
leaves are visible, the heads should be hoed; the oftener they
are hoed, the larger the size they will attain. When they
begin to ripen, the stalks are bent downwards, and covered
over with earth, a precaution which effectually prevents them
from running to leaf. In cold soils, it is considered better to
plant them in spring than in autumn.
For the purpose of depriving all these plants of their strong
smell, it is recommended to set them when the moon is below
the horizon, and to take them up when she is in conjunction.
Independently of these precautions, we find Menander, one
of the Greek writers, recommending those who have been
eating garlic to eat immediately afterwards a root of beet
roasted on hot coals; if this is done, he says, the strong smell
of the garlic will be effectually neutralized. Some persons are of
opinion, that the proper period for planting garlic and ulpicum
is between the festival of the Compitalia
4 and that of the
Saturnalia
5. Garlic, too, can be grown from seed, but it is
very slow, in such case, in coming to maturity; for in the first
year, the head attains the size only of that of a leek, in the
second, it separates into cloves, and only in the third it arrives
at maturity; there are some, however, who think that garlic
grown this way is the best. Garlic should never be allowed
to run to seed, but the stalk should be twisted, to promote its
growth, and to make the head attain a larger size.
If garlic or onions are wanted to keep some time, the heads
should be dipped in salt water, made luke-warm; by doing
this, they will be all the better for keeping, though quite
worthless for reproduction. Some persons content themselves
with hanging them over burning coals, and are of opinion that
this is quite sufficient to prevent them from sprouting: for it
is a well-known fact, that both garlic and onions sprout when
out of the ground, and that after throwing out their thin shoots
they shrivel away to nothing. Some persons are of opinion,
too, that the best way of keeping garlic is by storing it in chaff.
There is a kind
6 of garlic that grows spontaneously in the
fields, and is known by the name of "alum." To preserve
the seeds that are sown there from the remorseless ravages of
the birds, this plant is scattered over the ground, being first
boiled, to prevent it from shooting. As soon as ever they have
eaten of it, the birds become so stupefied as to be taken with
the hand even
7, and if they remain but a few moments only
on the spot, they fall fast asleep. There is a wild garlic,
too, generally known as "bear's" garlic
8; it has exactly the
smell of millet, with a very small head and large leaves.