# Garlic - Is It Magic?



## badgersdad (May 16, 2014)

I was making the kids a bolognese tonight. I made it all as usual but omitted the garlic. It tasted bland and school dinners-y. Then I added the garlic and it instantly tasted rich, deep and sophisticated, or at least a lot better than it did.

Conclusion: garlic is magic


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## Haggis (Apr 20, 2009)

I read recently it stops flea bites.


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## badgersdad (May 16, 2014)

Haggis said:


> I read recently it stops flea bites.


There you go; magic.


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## Roger the Dodger (Oct 5, 2009)

Garlic is a creation of the devil. It makes all food it touches taste like $hit, and it makes your breath reek. I always ask someone who has garlic breath to "Please face the other way as your breath absolutly stinks and offends me!" It ranks up there with Parmesan Cheese....otherwise known as 'Concentrated essence of vomit"

Forget the Italian dishes laced with garlic like Spag Bol and Lasagne......good ol' Shepherd's pie and Bangers and Mash will never relent to the garlic peril......and you'll never, ever see Pie 'n' Mash with Liquor ruined with it.. :lol:


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## Haggis (Apr 20, 2009)

Like all medicine it tastes terrible.


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## badgersdad (May 16, 2014)

Roger the Dodger said:


> Garlic is a creation of the devil. It makes all food it touches taste like $hit, and it makes your breath reek. I always ask someone who has garlic breath to "Please face the other way as your breath absolutly stinks!" It ranks up there with Parmesan Cheese....otherwise known as 'Concentrated essence of vomit"


Don't hold back Roger. Say what you think. 

There was a bloke in a record shop in Camden who used to slice raw garlic and eat it on crackers. He was a d**k.


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## Haggis (Apr 20, 2009)

Rodger prefers fleas.


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## Roger the Dodger (Oct 5, 2009)

Haggis said:


> Rodger prefers fleas.


Excuse me????? :dntknw:


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## Tugwell Gibson (Mar 17, 2014)

Roger. I put a bit if garlic in my shep pie.

I agree with the OP. It adds depth to a bolognase. Try a glass of red wine simmered off with the mince next time. That adds even more

Depth.


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## Richy (Oct 14, 2013)

Add garlic to most things, Indian, Italian etc...love it!


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## badgersdad (May 16, 2014)

What's more, it has uses around the home. I've skipped the first eleven to get straight to this one:

*12. Make a DIY Surface Cleaner. *Chop up a 3-4 cloves of garlic, and toss them in a spray bottle filled with white vinegar. Add a couple drops of lemon oil and voila â€" you have yourself a DIY disinfectant spray!

That'll keep the vampires away from your worktop.


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## trackrat (Jan 23, 2012)

Roger the Dodger said:


> Garlic is a creation of the devil. It makes all food it touches taste like $hit, and it makes your breath reek. I always ask someone who has garlic breath to "Please face the other way as your breath absolutly stinks and offends me!" It ranks up there with Parmesan Cheese....otherwise known as 'Concentrated essence of vomit"


What Roger said.


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## Haggis (Apr 20, 2009)

Roger the Dodger said:


> Haggis said:
> 
> 
> > Rodger prefers fleas.
> ...


 :taz: :rofl: :hunter:


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## Roger the Dodger (Oct 5, 2009)

Haggis said:


> Roger the Dodger said:
> 
> 
> > Haggis said:
> ...


Nope...still don't get it......you've lost me there ol' Pal.........


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## rhino2k (Oct 17, 2014)

Do not forget Chilli's!

Hotter the better, Although my crop of Trinidad Scorpions did get the better of me this year, They are bloomin' hot!


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## artistmike (May 13, 2006)

Great stuff garlic, couldn't cook without it and I especially like smoked garlic, try that in your Spag Bol it gives yet another layer of flavour... :thumbup:


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## Timez Own (Oct 19, 2013)

Tape a slice onto a verruca to get rid of it.

Even when doing this you can smell it on your breath


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## Haggis (Apr 20, 2009)

Garlic is used for many conditions related to the heart and blood system. These conditions include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, coronary heart disease, heart attack, and â€œhardening of the arteriesâ€ (atherosclerosis). Some of these uses are supported by science. Garlic actually may be effective in slowing the development of atherosclerosis and seems to be able to modestly reduce bloodpressure.

Some people use garlic to prevent colon cancer, rectal cancer, stomach cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, and lung cancer. It is also used to treat prostate cancer and bladder cancer.

Garlic has been tried for treating an enlarged prostate (benign prostatic hyperplasia; BPH), diabetes, osteoarthritis, hayfever (allergic rhinitis), traveler's diarrhea, high blood pressure late in pregnancy (pre-eclampsia), cold and flu. It is also used for building the immune system, preventing tick bites, and preventing and treating bacterial and fungal infections.

Other uses include treatment of fever, coughs, headache, stomach ache, sinus congestion, gout, rheumatism, hemorrhoids, asthma, bronchitis, shortness of breath, low blood pressure, low blood sugar, high blood sugar, and snakebites. It is also used for fighting stress and fatigue, and maintaining healthy liver function.

Also prevents fleas, dogs love it.


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## badgersdad (May 16, 2014)

rhino2k said:


> Do not forget Chilli's!
> 
> Hotter the better, Although my crop of Trinidad Scorpions did get the better of me this year, They are bloomin' hot!


There's a whole new thread waiting to start. Have you got any Trinidad Scorpians left? I'd love to try one.


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## BondandBigM (Apr 4, 2007)

It's a bit of a myth that all Italian grub is laced with garlic, its a bit like some of these Indian curries that have never seen India, completely invented in Birmingham.

:lol: :lol:

I have worked in Italy and nobody was going around stinking of the stuff. We've just had meatballs, tomato sauce & pasta, plenty of herbs and a bit of chilli but no garlic, tasted delish. You can knock up plenty of tasty spaggball recipes with out the garlic.


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## Roger the Dodger (Oct 5, 2009)

BondandBigM said:


> It's a bit of a myth that all Italian grub is laced with garlic, its a bit like some of these Indian curries that have never seen India, completely invented in Birmingham.
> 
> :lol: :lol:
> 
> I have worked in Italy and nobody was going around stinking of the stuff. We've just had meatballs, tomato sauce & pasta, plenty of herbs and a bit of chilli but no garlic, tasted delish. You can knock up plenty of tasty spaggball recipes with out the garlic.


I think Bond has hit the nail on the head. You just go with your preferences. While I realise that lots of people like garlic, it's just not for me. What I do like is plenty of onions in a recipe....so where garlic is recommended, I just add another onion. (Same botanical family...alliums...just a nicer flavour IMHO)


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## badgersdad (May 16, 2014)

Maybe I'm inured to it, but I think it works a bit like celery. If you use it carefully you can't really tell its there, but you notice when it isn't.


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## mel (Dec 6, 2006)

Mrs Mel says it's magic - - unless we both eat it at the same time, it stops us doing those naughty th - - - - 

I have a feeling that if you use Garlic, you *MUST* also use Olive Oil in the recipe to counter balance the recipe - - that's you halfway to the Mediterranean Diet. Add in some Tomatoes and salad, seafood and BINGO, you're really on the way!

For a delicate flavour, there's nowt to beat Wild Garlic, much less violent a taste, more delicate and slightly flowery, I've a patch of Wild Garlic in the garden. Shallots and Spring Onion are all the alium family, loverly


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## urzamoon (Dec 2, 2012)

Off course it is magic, it stops vampires almost as good as a wooden stake...


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## Who. Me? (Jan 12, 2007)

I can say from experience that it isn't just blood that it thins, it has the 'magic' ability to give me the raging squits :icon18:

Shame, because I actually like garlic. It just hates me.


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## Roger the Dodger (Oct 5, 2009)

All in all....more tragic than magic....


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## chris l (Aug 5, 2005)

A good cure for Delhi belly is three or four cloves of fresh chopped garlic in live yoghurt.

Even if it doesn't cure it outright it takes your mind off the malady....


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## GASHEAD (Aug 27, 2009)

I love the garlic!


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## jaslfc5 (Jan 2, 2007)

Lucky enough to visit isle of Wight often they have a garlic farm where they grow what is widely regarded as the best garlic in the world.

Smokey and black are really good and their vampires revenge chutney are worth seeking out.

Chilli farm just round the corner too grows the strongest chillis eat one of those and you don't care if you got fleas or not ,their chilli liquorice is suprisingly Moorish.


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## Barryboy (Mar 21, 2006)

Richy said:


> Add garlic to most things, Indian, Italian etc...love it!


You're obviously a man of taste and distinction, Richy.


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## Roger the Dodger (Oct 5, 2009)

Barryboy said:


> Richy said:
> 
> 
> > Add garlic to most things, Indian, Italian etc...love it!
> ...


.......and disgraceful breath the next day.......


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## Will Fly (Apr 10, 2012)

If you sautÃ© garlic gently, you get lots of flavour, but without some of the strong aftertaste. And generous amounts of parsley helps to counteract the "stink" (as Roger calls it).

Steam broccoli with chopped garlic - add to fuseli - sprinkle generously with parmesan.

Knock on Roger's door, leave the plate on the doorstep - and run like hell! :yes: :yes: :thumbup:


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