Garlic celebrations

The Australian garlic harvest has not quite finished, but there is already some fabulous Australian garlic available for sale. Don’t forget when you buy this from growers at farmers markets or online, that while you can certainly eat it, you can also keep it to plant, from late March to late May, for your own crop.

There used to be a period about this time of year where garlic in supermarkets was also Australian grown. In recent years we have been seeing some supermarkets mixing up a little Australian garlic with a load of imported garlics and labelling it Australian and imported garlic. While the Australian garlic should be freshly cured and delicious, the imported garlic will probably be terrible, starting to soften and rot, because it has been stored for so long before being dumped into the Australian market at really cheap prices.

Any garlic from overseas being sold in Australia now will have been sprayed with chemicals to extend shelf life. And all garlic imported into Australia has to be sprayed with the toxic biocide, methyl bromide. So it’s worth making the effort to find and buy Australian Garlic now, for both eating and planting.

If you are a passionate garlic lover, there are also garlic events you could check out:

The Meeniyan Garlic Festival, a community driven and organised event. They have Garlic Heaven, including garlic from many different garlic growers, and garlic-themed foods including beer and ice cream. There are also lots of activities for children, regional wines and cheeses and a range of garlic harvest experts talking about garlic and other produce in the education centre.

Again in Tasmania, but in the north this time, is Tasmanian Natural Garlic & Tomatoes, Garlic and Tomato Festival in Selbourne.  Again with speakers and food stalls and entertainment, there will be lots of garlic (and tomatoes) to taste and buy.

The other event is the garlic judging for the Australian Food Awards. This is not open to the public, and entries are only from commercial growers, big and small.

Judging is always interesting for myself and my three fellow judges with  60 or so garlics to pull apart, smell and taste, both raw and cooked. I’ve been doing if for more that five years now, and every year I’m amazed at the beautiful array of Australian-grown garlic. The variations in flavour range from mild and sweet, to hot and spicy. Other words that are used to describe garlic are savoury, to peppery, fruity, citrusy, nutty, mellow and sulphurous. The results are usually released a couple of days later.

And finally, what do you eat when you need to clear the palate in between tasting garlic? Well, blueberries, apple and lemon sorbet of course!