Garlic 101

Garlic has been used to season food for centuries.

The most pungent member of the allium family, garlic is bursting with flavor. Raw garlic is powerful and spicy. Gently cooked garlic is sweet and melt-in-your-mouth smooth. Dehydrated garlic is full of flavor: robust but not too edgy. Roasted, pickled, fermented, powdered - we love it all! But dehydrated is our garlic of choice. It's a bit time-consuming to do what we do at Backyard Garlic, but we feel the results are worth it. Fresh and flavorful garlic always at the ready. Garlic goodness just a twist away.

There are many types of garlic (Allium savitum) but they can be categorized into two main groups or subspecies - hardneck (ophioscorodon) and softneck (sativum).

Hardneck garlic got its name because it has, in fact, a hard stem from which bulbils develop. When fresh, this stem is edible and is called a scape. Bulbils are tiny, undivided bulbs produced in the scape of hardneck garlic. The scape looks something like a garlic flower, however, the reproductive parts are for show only; there is no cross pollination. Essentially, the bulbils are clones of the mother plant that can be planted to produce a replica of the parent.

Softneck garlic generally does not produce bulbils or have a stiff “flower” stalk. The bulb is often smaller and has more cloves. Softneck garlic is the garlic most often available from grocers or markets because it matures more quickly than hardneck and stores well. If you see a “garlic braid,” you are looking at softneck garlic.

At Backyard Garlic, we grow mainly hardneck for the simple fact that it is more suited for our New England climate. (We have other reasons but they get a bit garlic-nerdy, so we’ll let it go at that.) 

The next time you pick up a garlic bulb, try pressing down on the top of the garlic with your thumb. If you feel a “hard stem” you might be holding a hardneck garlic bulb. Chances are the stem is non-existent or very soft. Hint, hint. And the next time you prepare a meal with garlic as an ingredient (so, all the time, right?) try giving the clove a little more attention than you normally would. What color is the peel? How shiny is the bulb? What does it smell like? And taste like? Not all garlic tastes the same. 

That’s because there are many sub-types, or cultivars, of garlic. Some have a stronger bite (like a vampire?) while others are mild and have a softer aftertaste (like, I don’t know, a nip from a puppy?). That’s because garlic has a range of flavors. From apple mild to dragon breath hot sauce fire and everything in between.

Every year Backyard Garlic grows 7-10 different types of garlic. We use a blend of these garlics in every jar and refill bag. We like garlics that are hot or spicy or have a long aftertaste that mellows to a deep rich flavor. All the garlic we process has a kick and flavors that retain intensity through the careful and slow dehydration process.