Elephant
Last updated on Jul 15, 2024 by Claire Ronniger
The Great Imposter - It's Really a Leek in Disguise!
With Elephant garlic, your garlic will come back by itself every year from now on. Everything about Elephant garlic is BIG!
Elephant garlic is unique and is in a class by itself, literally and so deserves a page to itself. Botanically, elephant garlic is a leek, allium Ampeloprasm, not Allium Sativum like all true garlics but it looks and generally acts like a garlic so garlic lovers treat it as if it were a true garlic.
Elephant garlic's taste is in a class by itself, too; tasting similar to both garlics and leeks but not exactly like either one. And of course, the taste is different when cooked than when raw. It is said to have about a fourth as much allicin as garlic though which garlic isn't stated. Since allicin-forming potential is different for all varieties and cultivars of garlic, the amount of allicin produced is still a question but it definitely produces allicin; that's what gives it the bite in taste.
Elephant garlic is a truly unique member of the plant family - a leek that looks a lot like a garlic but doesn't always act like it because it does some things that true garlics don't. It forms corms, (Little straw-colored,, hard-shelled sharp-pointed, bulbil-like things that grow underground against the sides of the bulb.) True garlic does not form them. Another difference is that Elephant garlic sends up a scape with a big round ball of a flower at its top instead of bulbils.
Elephant garlic is very long storing and the cloves can remain viable for as much as a full year even after being separated from the bulb. There are lots of things to like about Elephant garlic.
With Elephant garlic, your garlic will come back by itself every year from now on. Everything about Elephant garlic is BIG!
Elephant garlic is unique and is in a class by itself, literally and so deserves a page to itself. Botanically, elephant garlic is a leek, allium Ampeloprasm, not Allium Sativum like all true garlics but it looks and generally acts like a garlic so garlic lovers treat it as if it were a true garlic.
Elephant garlic's taste is in a class by itself, too; tasting similar to both garlics and leeks but not exactly like either one. And of course, the taste is different when cooked than when raw. It is said to have about a fourth as much allicin as garlic though which garlic isn't stated. Since allicin-forming potential is different for all varieties and cultivars of garlic, the amount of allicin produced is still a question but it definitely produces allicin; that's what gives it the bite in taste.
Elephant garlic is a truly unique member of the plant family - a leek that looks a lot like a garlic but doesn't always act like it because it does some things that true garlics don't. It forms corms, (Little straw-colored,, hard-shelled sharp-pointed, bulbil-like things that grow underground against the sides of the bulb.) True garlic does not form them. Another difference is that Elephant garlic sends up a scape with a big round ball of a flower at its top instead of bulbils.
Elephant garlic is very long storing and the cloves can remain viable for as much as a full year even after being separated from the bulb. There are lots of things to like about Elephant garlic.