I am not an expert on garlic but recently learned how many different
varieties there are at a garlic festival. Highly recommend attending
one near you (but make sure you don't need to be in public for a day or
two afterwards!).
One variety I loved because it is really "spicy" is Dominic's Racombole.
It's a hard neck (i.e. there is a hard "core" in the center of the garlic
that the cloves kind of grow around). (There are other Racomboles,
they were all pretty similar to me.) The hard neck varieties seemed to
be all rather spicier (or stronger) in flavor than the soft necks.
Elephant garlic is good for roasting because it's easy to get the
meat out of the cloves. However it seems to be the mildest and really
doesn't taste garlicy once it's roasted (could be a plus I suppose).
Aiko Pinkoski
aiko@xxxxxxxxxxx
PS for those of you in Massachusetts, the garlic fest was at Drumlin Farms
in Lincoln. I think they are going to do one again next summer.
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