Aglio? Si O No ?

The Metro, the Caterer and the Times have all reported this week on the high profile campaign in Italy headed by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s to ban garlic from Italian restaurants. Such is Mr Berlusconi’s aversion, he has even been known to issue breath fresheners to officials and electoral candidates and actually banned it from the 2001 G8 summit menu! Leading Italian Chef Antonello Colonna, is more sceptical, reporting that he had “put garlic into dishes at official dinners for Berlusconi without him realising ! The word Garlic (Latin; Allium sativum) has its orgins in Old English gārlēac, meaning, "spear leek". it has been used in Italian cooking since Roman times, when Pliny the Elder offered a list of its benefits in his Natural History. It can be used as seasoning or condiment, and the medicinal properties and benefits are widely known, as these sites bear out:
http://www.garlic.mistral.co.uk/ and http://www.garlicworld.co.uk/

Chewing bunches of parsley after consumption helps to reduce the after effects and leaving the garlic to soak in water for several hours BEFORE eating should maintain the taste but eliminate the odours.. but Belinda Welsman has gone one better. Her ‘snoggable garlic’ company which has been going for a number of years, produces a range of different flavoured garlics including smoked and hot chili, and uses a secret recipe to ensure the odours of the garlic are eliminated, "My garlic is famous for containing all the properties of fresh garlic but without the after smell" . I’ve actually bought some from the farmers market in Halesowen and very good it is too!