Traditions with garlic

Garlic, the pungent bulb of an onion relative, has been eaten and prized since the earliest civilisations, in Egypt, Mesopotamia, India and China. It is in the cooking of Italy, Korea, Lebanon and Mexico, and in the charm against vampires of Romanian folklore. A food of the common people, it is also a food of belief. Some communities, such as Jain and some Hindu, avoid it for religious reasons. These pages describe the places and meanings of garlic.

Where it is used

In Korea, garlic is in kimchi and barbecue, and in Italy aglio e olio. In Lebanon, toum, a white garlic sauce, goes with chicken, and in Spain, ajo blanco and gambas al ajillo. In France, aioli is eaten on Fridays in Provence in a grand aioli feast. In Gilroy, California, an annual Garlic Festival used to draw crowds. In Georgia, garlic goes into the walnut sauces and chicken tabaka.

What it means

In European and Middle Eastern folklore, garlic wards off the evil eye, witches and vampires, and braids hang in kitchens. Egyptian pyramid builders were given garlic, according to Herodotus. In Korean legend, a bear became a woman by eating mugwort and garlic, and the story is the founding myth of the nation. Faiths that avoid it, such as the Jains, do so because it grows in the ground, and kills the plant when harvested.