Glorious Garlic

I love it when science backs up the traditional use of foods, herbs and spices. Garlic is a prime example of this. Along with onions, garlic was considered sacred by the Egyptians, who thought that it possessed magical powers which could ward off evil spirits and the effects of their bad deeds. Garlic was used as a medicine by the Greeks, Romans and Babylonians, as well as in ancient China and India and right up to the first World War.

Research suggests that garlic’s main active ingredient is ‘allicin’, which is antiviral, antifungal, antibacterial and antiparasitic. However, the chemistry of garlic is complex, as allicin is not actually found in fresh garlic. Instead it contains something called alliin and an enzyme called allinase, in different parts of the plant. Destroying the membranes between those parts of the plant allows the two substances to mix and form allicin. The allicin does not last very long, to prevent the plant damaging itself if it’s damaged by pests. The way that allicin is formed explains why we need to crush, finely chop or chew garlic to get its full benefit.

Try to eat a clove a day, although if you are fighting an infection you could try eating up to 5 cloves a day. If the smell of garlic puts you off, try the odourless brands of capsules available in good health food stores, making sure they contain allicin. The allicin in these capsules is apparently activated in the intestine, so it shouldn’t affect your breath. Alternatively, just enjoy the real thing and then chew on fresh parsley or mint, or a few fennel seeds to take away the garlic smell. Most people can benefit from eating garlic, but anyone on anticoagulant medication or preparing for surgery should avoid it due to its blood-thinning properties, along possibly with breastfeeding mothers as it may cause wind in the baby.

It's quite easy to add garlic to your diet - in salad dressings or with chopped onions in soups or stews. From this time of year onwards, you could look out for wild garlic in the woods. It has beautiful white flowers, relatively wide green leaves and a very strong smell of garlic. Make a simple, tasty soup by gently frying a chopped onion with a knob of butter until translucent. Add a scrubbed, chopped potato and sweat for a few minutes, before adding a good pint of chicken stock then simmering until the potatoes are just about cooked. Add about 4oz of well-rinsed wild garlic leaves (enough to fill a colander) and cook for another couple of minutes. Whizz the soup with a blender before stirring in a generous glug of cream. Check your seasoning, adding pepper and a little more salt if necessary.