Garlic, Latin name Allium sativum, belongs to the onion family Alliaceae including shallots, and leek. Garlic has been used throughout recorded history for both medicinal and culinary purposes. The garlic bulb is divided into sections called cloves.
Elephant garlic or Russian garlic is a variant of the species leek and not considered a true garlic. It has a tall, solid, flowering stalk and broad, flat leaves much like those of the leek, but forms a bulb consisting of very large, garlic like cloves.
Garlic was rare in traditional English cuisine (though it is said to have been grown in England before 1548), and has been a much more common ingredient in Mediterranean Europe.
Builders of the ancient pyramids were said to eat garlic daily for enhanced endurance and strength.
Garlic was placed by the ancient Greeks on the piles of stones at cross-roads, as a supper for Hecate.
Roman emperors couldn't eat enough of it, as it was considered an antidote to poisons which were very popular in certain political circles of the time.
The Spanish have long used garlic as a preservative which helps to add creadence to it's anti-bacterial properties and whole books have been devoted to the health benefits of garlic.
The inhabitants of Pelusium in lower Egypt, who worshipped the onion, are said to have had an aversion to both onions and garlic as food.
European beliefs once considered garlic a powerful ward against demons, werewolves, and vampires. To ward off vampires, garlic could be worn, hung in windows or rubbed on chimneys and keyholes.
