Your aroma guides my spirit through the ages to my ancestors who discovered you.
Garlic has its history rooted deeply in Asia and the Middle East. It has been around 6000 years since its first bulbs nested their tentacles into the soil where they grew naturally and in abundance for centuries. Early humans quickly learned the benefits of this plant and began the trade that birthed the world’s love of garlic.
The availability of garlic increased the use and experimentation of garlic and new uses were found for the plant medicinally, as well as for taste. When garlic began to show healing properties on wounds and prevention of the spread of diseases, human beings began to worship the garlic bulb, as in ancient Egypt. “Garlic’s antitumor abilities have been traced back 3500 years as a chemotherapeutic agent used in Egypt”, according to, Anticancer potential of garlic and its bioactive constituents.
Garlic was made famous once discovered by the Greeks and soon became a household staple across the world. “Arrival of garlic into ancient Greece and Rome gave another big boost to its popularity. By that time garlic was used for almost everything – from food medicine to religious and superstition rituals. They claimed garlic can repel scorpions, treat dog bites, cure asthma, protect against leprosy, and if hanged above entrance door of the house it could stop the spread of smallpox”(http://www.vegetablefacts.net/vegetable-history/history-of-garlic/#google_vignette).
Although garlic was used primarily as medicine in the ancient far east, the Greeks were already incorporating its flavorful robust cloves into their dishes. Here was born the food combinations that we take for granted. Pasta sauces, meat stuffed with garlic cloves, and large amounts of garlic ready for absorption by bread. Here was born the beginning of traditions that might have led to what we now know as the blue zones, areas of the planet where human beings tend to live well into their hundreds. Todays blue zones consist of places like Greek islands, Costa Rica, and Japan. In the heart of most of these regions usually lies a diet rich in plant-based foods, and they are usually located in a hilly or slightly mountainous terrain.
If you haven’t opened a bottle of red wine lately and pressed some fresh garlic onto some toasted sourdough, then you haven’t connected to our ancestors and their teachings. To truly appreciate our current humanity, we must embrace the roots that got us here.