Tastes : Garlic
Garlic Facts, Folklore, Myths and Legends
from Lake's cookbook Heavy Breathing... Seduction by Garlic
Garlic’s reputation precedes itself. A food plant that has been cultivated by humans and whose remains have been found in Neolithic caves inhabited 10,000 years ago. A Sumerian clay tablet chiseled in cuneiform dating from 3000 B.C contains the first garlic prescription, a tonic with a considerable amount of garlic.
5,000 year old Sanskrit writings refer to garlic as a “slayer of monsters”. No wonder as legends go, garlic has associations in the occult. It has long been thought to drive out demons and subsequently has been considered a Vampire repellent.
Over 3000 years ago, the Ching or the Book of Songs (a Chinese book of parables said to be written by Confucius covering all aspects of daily life) praised garlic as having medicinal qualities to cure almost any illness.
Belonging to the genus Allium Sativum L. A member of the Lily family and cousin to the onion, leek and shallot. The name is Old Anglo-Saxon in origin. “Garleac” is derived from gar (a spear) a reference to the shape of its leaves, and laec, a general name for Allium plants.
The regions of south central Asia in northwestern China, on into southern Uzbekistan are considered garlic’s place of origin. Most likely, it was carried by nomads on trade routes throughout Asia Minor to the Indus Valley, the Euphrates and the Tigris regions and then westward into Europe.
These original gourmets had need of preserved and seasoned food. Salt primarily, but plant products including onions, leeks and garlic soon followed.
Thanks to the Mongols, it seems that from there to have made its
way throughout China and Tibet and the Middle Kingdom (China’s provinces) on to Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea and Japan.
Ancient Orientals rubbed sacrificial lambs with garlic to create a kind of provocative scent that would please the gods and chase away evil spirits. On the other hand, people would eat garlic before making a journey at night. It made them belch and have foul breath. The primitive belief was that the evil spirits would not come into the radius of the smell. Koreans would eat pickled garlic before passing through a mountain pass, believing that tigers disliked it.
Official tiger scaring recipe to follow.
Herodotus, in the early 5th century B.C. stated that an inscription on the Great Pyramid at Cheops refers to the large sum spent on garlic, onions and radishes for the men. The ancient Egyptians fed garlic to the slaves who built the pyramids believing it increased their physical strength.
In fact, the world’s first recorded labor strike occurred at that very pyramid in 3758 B.C. As a result of a shortage of said garlic, the slaves refused to work when their masters first reduced and then eliminated their daily garlic ration. Work resumed only when the garlic was restored to their diets.
Mummified cloves of garlic were found scattered throughout the tomb of Tutankhamen. During his reign, 15 lbs of garlic would buy a healthy male slave.
The Egyptians held it in their hands or placed it on their altars and invoked it as a deity during the taking of oaths. By holding a garlic bulb, the priests believed that you had all of the complexities of existence in the palm of your hand.
It became an important part of their religion and was said to have the ability to invoke the influence of the most powerful of the gods. The garlic bulb was considered among the most sacred symbols of Egyptian cosmogeny because of its shape and structure... Individual cloves concentrically clustered into a compact unity paralleled the Egyptian image of the universe.
Ancient upper class Egyptians prized cleanliness. They were fastidious about their bodies and washed several times a day. Three days each month, they would purge their bodies with emetics, laxatives and enemas. Garlic and onions among other things, were used for this purpose.
For thousands of years, Indian Ayurvedic (Sanskrit) healers have prescribed garlic as a panacea which included leprosy. In fact, millenniums later, after India became an English Colony and adopted English, the term “peelgarlic” became synonymous with lepers because they spent so much time doing just that as they prepared their daily doses.
Indian mythology includes a story of Vishnu, creator of the universe, beheading a demon that had stolen some nectar from the gods. When the nectar ran out of the now headless throat unto the ground, garlic grew at that spot. Since it had gone through the demon’s mouth though, it became “tamsik” which means it had sinful aphrodisiac properties.
Nectar of the gods? Sinful aphrodisiac? Great story line.
A tablet in the British Museum (number 46226) states that garlic and onions head the list of the 64 plants mentioned in the fabled gardens of the Babylon King Mardukpaliddin. (722-710 B.C.)
In ancient Greece, an infant’s lips and tongue were anointed with fresh cut garlic, to insure a healthy long life. The doors of the homes of expectant mothers were also decorated with bunches of garlic, as they believed it would guarantee the birth of healthy children. Greek midwives used to hang garlic cloves in birthing rooms to keep evil spirits away.
In the 4th century B.C. Theophrastus the Greek Philosopher described how the ancient Greeks placed it at crossroads to sustain and appease Hecate, the underworld goddess of magic. Her tri faced image was often found at crossroads with garlic among the offerings. With her entourage of hell hounds, she was often to be found where roads met, as well as at tombs and scenes of crimes.
My kind of girl.
Greek gladiators and later Roman soldiers were given garlic to increase their stamina and courage. The Roman legions planted it wherever they were stationed while conquering most of the known world. And as long as they were using it for stamina and courage, the Romans also used it as a paste for soothing their fierce hemorrhoids.
At the temple of Cybel, the Roman diety of Mother Earth, the self-emasculated priests known as “galli” forbade entrance to anyone that had just eaten garlic.
Suffering from indigestion after eating a sheep’s head with garlic on the day of his arrival to Rome, the Poet Horace (65-8 B.C) said “Should you partake in such a dish, O sprightly Maecenas, may your mistress resist your kisses, remain far from your hugs and flee to the lowest couch.”
What a relief - I thought it was just me. Being male, and oblivious by nature, it never occurred to me that garlic was to blame.
Thought of as a cure all, Galen, a distinguished Roman physician and philosopher of the 2nd century A.D. called garlic “theriac” meaning an antidote to poison. Later he opted to call it “theriacum rusticorum” or the “country mans’ cure-all” a universal panacea. The Indian Ayurvedic medical practices did so as well. Chaucer referred to it as “poor mans’ treacle”, a corruption of “theriac”.
The Roman poet Virgil (79-19 B.C.) tells of a salad called “moretum” made from bruised garlic, thyme leaves, flour, cheese, olive oil and vinegar. Another version, said to be a staple of Roman legionnaires (who planted it wherever they were stationed and are credited with its spread thoughout the empire) was more soup like in character and consisted of cracked wheat, water, salt, black pepper, onions, garlic, bacon, beef and cheese.
Sounds delish.
Nero was said to have invented the garlic flavored sauce of aioli, an important mainstay in Provencal cooking to this day.
Emperor Marcus Aurelius criticized the Jews, whom they themselves referred to as “garlic eaters” (Ned 3:10) for exuding its smell. (Ammianus Marcellinus, Res gestae, 22:5)
Although the Byzantine emperor Alexis Comnenus was disgusted by the stinking breath of Raymond of Toulouse’s Crusaders in the 11th Century, the Byzantine citizens used it lavishly in their cooking, preparing it as “skoodaton”, roasted in an oven and then crushed with olive oil and salt.
The Crusaders contacts with the East are thought to have been responsible for increasing garlic cultivation throughout Western Europe.
Throughout history, garlic has been loved by some, and reviled by others. Social class against social class. Garlic often was considered the food of rustics, peasants and the working class. Nationality against nationality as well. The Mediterranean and Asian cultures indulged widely and the Northern and Western cultures more reluctantly, at least initially.
Unfortunately, things haven’t really changed. The same type of human behavior applies to many different subjects. The regions of Southern Europe and and Asia seem to embrace it more so than the inhabitants of the North. It’s been speculated that this may be due to garlic’s origination from that area and therefore, the indigenous people’s longer standing knowledge of its medicinal values.
Genetic memory so to speak. No wonder my shoulders always hurt. Must have been that cornerstone on the pyramid one of my ancestors helped to hoist.
Garlic was mentioned in the Bible when Moses led the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt around 1200 B.C. During their Exodus from Egypt, the Jews lamented their diet, missing the finer things in life. “We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely: the cucumbers and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions and the garlick: But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all beside this manna, before our eyes”. (Numbers 11:5)
Years later, descendants of the Israelites can still be heard complaining, only this time, about the service or the portion size.
The ancient Rabbinic writings of the Talmud states that garlic helps destroy parasites, which today would be interpreted as destroying germs. A natural disinfectant. Furthermore, garlic was also recommended as it was believed to “enlighten the mind, brighten the face, increase the circulation and provide warmth for the body.” It also directed that numerous foods should be seasoned with it. Ezra decreed it to be eaten on Friday evenings (the Sabbath) as it “promotes love and arouses desire”.
Around 300 B.C. it’s noted that Chinese courtiers used cloves to sweeten their garlic breath when in the presence of the emperor. As stated above, do not eat it alone, unless you plan on staying alone.
Garlic is best shared.
The Phoenicians and the Vikings both carried it on their sea voyages as garlic was thought to be able to resist poisons. Its carbonized remains have been found in the ruins of Pompeii.
Pliny the Elder (23-79 A. D.) reports witnessing the Egyptians taking an oath and presenting garlic and onions as an offering to the gods of Egypt.
In his “Historia Naturalis” Pliny states that “beaten with fresh coriander and taken in pure wine, garlic is an excellent love potion.” thus extolling it throughout the ages for its alleged aphrodisiacal powers. As a result, the Romans would include an amulet or garlic wreath as a kind of love charm at their infamous orgies as it would invigorate those that tired.
When he wasn’t observing orgy etiquette, as he apparently liked to watch, he also noticed that “its very scent will drive away serpents and scorpions”.
A solid idea for any orgy.
The Prophet Mohammed is recorded as saying, after refusing a dish made with garlic, “I am a man who has close contact with others.” Besides which, there is a Mohammedan legend stating: “when Satan stepped out from the Garden of Eden after the fall of man, garlic sprang up from the spot where he placed his left foot, and onion from that where his right foot touched.” This legend seemingly runs parallel to the Vishnu and the demon story previously mentioned.
In the 8th century B.C. in Homer’s “Odyssey” Odysseus (Ulysses), King of Ithaca and the hero of the battle of Troy, found strength from garlic against the sorceress Circe. After she had turned his companions into pigs with a magic potion, garlic was given to him by Hermes (Mercury) with these words: “Nevertheless, she (Circe) will not be able to transform you. The virtue of this medicinal plant will prevent her.”
King Alphonse III of Castilia (866-900 A.D.) founded an order of knights (supposedly on the request of his mistress) and issued a decree forbidding any who had eaten garlic or onions to appear at court or to speak to other courtiers for four weeks.
From a manuscript dating from the 10th century, garlic juice mixed with holy water and drunk out of a church bell was the recommended treatment for madness.
In the 12th -14th century in France, “aillee” was a very popular sauce consisting of garlic and almonds or walnuts (depending on the region) and bread crumbs pounded and added to broths. It was typically used as a preventative for colds and coughs.
In the “Travels of Marco Polo” written in the 13th Century, our man Marco documented seeing the locals in Yunan province “take the raw liver as soon as it it drawn from the beasts; then they chop it up small, put it in garlic sauces and eat it there and then.”
Talk about Chinese take out.
During the Black Plague of the 14th century, physician monks and herbalists prescribed it to ward off the effects of the epidemic, as it was believed to increase the resistance of the users, in short, a natural antibiotic. They also recommended pressing a garlic clove to the nostrils before venturing forth into the unsanitary streets “corrupt airs” to protect themselves against “noxious wastes that could enter the nostrils.”
Christopher Columbus was said to carry garlic in the holds of his ships during his voyages for Spain. The Spanish are credited with bringing garlic to the New World. Sailors typically carried it with them to prevent wreckage of the ship or to counteract foul or corrupt air.
In the Middle Ages, an interesting theory called the “Doctrine of Signatures” generally espoused the philosophy that the particular shape of a plant had to do with its medicinal uses. Garlic was used for baldness, because its bulb shape resembled that of bald head. Additionally, it was thought to be good for ailments of the throat and windpipe due to the shape of its stalk.
During that same time, in Siberia, it was considered so valuable that Siberians were permitted to pay part of their taxes with garlic as currency. The average yearly tax for a family of three was 30 bulbs of garlic. This practice continued into the middle of the 18th century.
Henry the IV of France who ruled from 1589-1610 and numerous other Crown Princes known as Le Roi d’Ail, were anointed at birth with garlic and wine. They were also known to chew raw garlic and have “a breath that would fell an ox at 20 paces.” Although Henry was more famous for his prowess as a lover than for his powerful odor.
Now really, who’s going to tell the king he has bad breath?
In plague ravaged Marseilles in 1726, four corpse robbing thieves seemed to be miraculously and unfairly immune. After being arrested and questioned, their secret was divulged. Hence the “vinaigre des quatres voleurs” or “vinegar of the four thieves”, an antiseptic preparation consisting of garlic steeped with wine and vinegar. By placing a mask around the nose and mouth with a pad soaked in the mixture, they apparently survived.
In the Philippines, garlic is rubbed in the armpit of children to protect them from attack. The Bataks of Sumatra thought it to be helpful in recalling the soul to a sickly person’s body.
American Choctaw Indians cultivated and used garlic to combat what would eventually come to be known as scurvy, as it’s a good source of Vitamin C. By applying garlic to their feet, American Colonists treated cardiovascular and respiratory disorders. They believed it would draw the toxins from the body downward and outward.
The British were putting garlic in their shoes to combat whooping cough. Describing the ointment William Buchan of The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh states “by beating it in a mortar... with an equal quantity of hogs lard. With this the soles of the feet may be rubbed twice or thrice a day; but the best method is to spread it upon a rag, and apply it in the form of a plaster. It should be renewed every night and morning at least, as the garlic soon loses its virtue.” (Buchan 1809:212)
The idea that garlic can dispel evil abounds in both ancient and modern folklore. In the Balkans, legend holds that garlic casts out demons and witches, protects against the evil eye and is used as a component in exorcisms. That belief, which parallels the ancient Sanskrit belief of garlic as a “slayer of monsters”, is what gave rise to the notion that garlic could protect against Vampires or the Undead.
It was considered effective for protecting all inhabitants in a household when hung in clusters over the doors and windows. As added protection, doorknobs and window sills or sashes were rubbed with slices of garlic. Besides which, no well dressed Hungarian would be without a clove tucked into a button hole or suspended on a string around their neck.
You can never be too sure.
In Bram Stokers “Dracula” garlic is laid out by Professor Van Helsing to protect the fair Lucy, whom he suspected of being the victim of a Vampire attack. Unfortunately, it was removed by an unwitting maid who discarded the cloves and blossoms that were scattered throughout the room. She then opened the windows to air out the smell.
The rest is literary history.
Following the destruction of a Vampire through decapitation or staking, it was poured into the mouth. In Slavic villages, cloves were stuffed into the orifices of a corpse to ensure that no evil could enter.
I hate when that happens.
Russian folk remedies included many variations of garlic tinctures made with garlic mixed with vodka, lemon juice or water. They reportedly helped heal sores, cleansed the arteries, created a feeling of rejuvenation (particularly when mixed with copious amounts of vodka), extended life, and promoted vigor and strength.
Basically, good for what ails you.
Following the traditions of the ancient Egyptians, modern Sudanese villagers place a clove of garlic in a woman’s vagina to determine if she is pregnant. It’s said that the garlic’s characteristic odor will appear on her breath the next day if indeed she is.
That would make garlic one of the first home pregnancy tests.
In the 17th century, Jacques Marquette, led an expedition to a wilderness area of the Great Lakes. The story goes that they were near starvation when they came upon some wild garlic growing abundantly. They consumed the garlic and washed it down with lake water. That nourishment allowed them to continue on and eventually return to civilization.
That area, on the western shore of what we now call Lake Michigan is where the city of Chicago now stands. The name Chicago is derived from an Indian phrase “chicagaoua” or “cigaga wunj” depending on the source, but meaning “place of wild garlic”.
How apropos that I grew up in Chicago, and can attest to the vast quantity of garlic to be found in the numerous neighborhoods and restaurants catering to a diversely ethnic population. Originally Italians, Slavs, Greeks and Jews but which now include many newcomers, such as the Koreans, Latinos and East Indians to name but a few.
Garlic can’t be ignored. It’s very personal. You either like it or you don’t. It’s been found at the very foundations of food and medicine throughout civilization and is an essential ingredient in nearly all of the world’s cuisines. It creates a response, not indifference.
Garlic takes an active position, as does life lived to the fullest.
As a lifelong hedonist I support garlic enthusiastically. I’ve made a career of it. How many times in my life have I quoted the immortal words of Oscar Wilde “Anything worth doing, is worth overdoing”?
I embrace it daily.
- Alan Lake