This past weekend I attended the Ontario Garlic Festival. Garlic is one of my favourite ingredients to use in cooking. It can be a mild undertone in a dish or a pungent burst of flavour.
Most of the garlic sold in grocery stores in Ontario comes from China. CHINA! As in the other side of the world!!! We have delicious, fresh garlic growing in our own province, country, heck - hemisphere and our garlic comes from China? That's silly. While I had the chance I stocked up on a few months supply. This got me wondering about the best way to store my garlic...
A lesson in storing garlic:
Store in a cool, dark, dry place. Don't store in the refrigerator (I'm guilty of this) or in a plastic, sealed container - this can lead to garlic turning soft and moldy. Storing garlic heads in oil can lead to botulism (this sounds like something I would do...I'm really glad I learned this...spread the word people!). You can buy garlic storage containers that have small holes that allow for proper air circulation...I think it's time I invest in one of these to avoid soft, moldy, boutilism-filled garlic! For now, storing in a brown paper bag should do the trick.
Back to the Garlic Festival - it was fun! There were at least a dozen varieties of garlic, garlic spreads, garlic pestos, garlic chocolate and even garlic ice cream!!!
With all this talk I'm feeling the urge to roast some garlic. Before I go, I must encourage you to embrace your garlic breath. Share your garlic filled snack with friends and coworkers so that they too have garlic breath and we can all live harmoniously in our smelly garlicy world.
Spread the word, share the garlic, embrace the breath.
R.
Most of the garlic sold in grocery stores in Ontario comes from China. CHINA! As in the other side of the world!!! We have delicious, fresh garlic growing in our own province, country, heck - hemisphere and our garlic comes from China? That's silly. While I had the chance I stocked up on a few months supply. This got me wondering about the best way to store my garlic...
A lesson in storing garlic:
Store in a cool, dark, dry place. Don't store in the refrigerator (I'm guilty of this) or in a plastic, sealed container - this can lead to garlic turning soft and moldy. Storing garlic heads in oil can lead to botulism (this sounds like something I would do...I'm really glad I learned this...spread the word people!). You can buy garlic storage containers that have small holes that allow for proper air circulation...I think it's time I invest in one of these to avoid soft, moldy, boutilism-filled garlic! For now, storing in a brown paper bag should do the trick.
Back to the Garlic Festival - it was fun! There were at least a dozen varieties of garlic, garlic spreads, garlic pestos, garlic chocolate and even garlic ice cream!!!
With all this talk I'm feeling the urge to roast some garlic. Before I go, I must encourage you to embrace your garlic breath. Share your garlic filled snack with friends and coworkers so that they too have garlic breath and we can all live harmoniously in our smelly garlicy world.
Spread the word, share the garlic, embrace the breath.
R.
great photos!
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