STARTERS


NUMB ER CRUNCHING Garlic


THIS PUNGENT BULB HAS BEEN LIVENING UP OUR COOKING FOR MILLENNIA, FEATURING IN SAUCES, SOUPS AND EVEN DEDICATED FESTIVALS


40 AD 43-410 THE PERIOD THE ROMANS


RULED BRITAIN, DURING WHICH THEY BROUGHT OVER GARLIC FROM ITALY, PLUS ONIONS, ASPARAGUS AND CABBAGES


2


The number of garlic types: hardneck and softneck. Most of the bulbs sold in UK supermarkets are softneck, which stays fresh for longer and is easier to grow


70% 20,000


THE ANNUAL NUMBER OF VISITORS TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT GARLIC FESTIVAL, WHICH FEATURES STALLS SELLING, AMONG OTHER


THINGS, GARLIC-FLAVOURED ICE CREAM, FUDGE AND BEER


The humidity needed


to produce black garlic. Taking one to three


months, the process not only changes the colour


of the garlic, it also makes it softer and sweeter


THE NUMBER OF CLOVES IN THE CLASSIC CHICKEN CASSEROLE, MADE POPULAR BY NIGELLA LAWSON. SHE SAYS GARLIC ACQUIRES A SWEET TASTE WHEN COOKED IN ITS SKIN


23.3m


THE NUMBER OF TONNES OF GARLIC GROWN IN


CHINA (THE WORLD’S LARGEST PRODUCER AND CONSUMER OF THE PLANT)


1907 1.19kg


The weight of the world’s heaviest bulb of garlic, grown in 1985 by


Robert Kirkpatrick of Eureka, California 18 NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.CO.UK/FOOD-TRAVEL


The year a recipe for aioli — a Mediterranean sauce made with garlic, olive oil and salt — was first published in English. It


was translated from French chef Auguste Escoffier’s Le Guide Culinaire (1903)


SOURCES: GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS, FORKNPLATE, THE GUARDIAN, US NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE, ENGLISH HERITAGE, IOWGF, NIGELLA.COM


WORDS: FARIDA ZEYNALOVA. IMAGES: GETTY; ALAMY


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