Varieties of Garlic
Garlic has been cultivated for many thousands of years, and most agree that the original birth place is south-central asia. The traditional climate for garlic was harsh and continental with very hot summers, dry soil and intense direct sunlight. Winters were long and severe. The perfect food crop for a northern climate like Canada's!
The botanical name for garlic is Allium sativum. Although there is only this one single species of garlic, it comes in thousands of variations or cultivars that are greatly influenced by environmental conditions, soil and climate. However, the cultivars can generally be classified into two main groups: hardneck and softneck.
Hardneck garlic is the most popular garlic grown in Ontario. Hardnecks typically produce a single circle of between four and fourteen cloves per bulb, but the type most commonly grown in Canada has between four and ten large, easy peeling cloves. Most agree that hardnecks have a strong, true garlic flavour compared to their more mild softneck cousins. This combination of characteristics make hardneck garlic extremely popular in gourmet restaurants and food shops.
Softneck garlic is the most popular garlic word-wide. They produce large vigorous bulbs with between three and five whorls of cloves ranging from eight to as many as forty individual cloves per bulb. Granted the size of each clove decreases accordingly! Softnecks generally lack the rich, sweet depth of the best hardnecks, but instead offer a milder, more complex flavour. Softnecks also store extremely well which may account,in part, for their wide-spread popularity.
At LOVE Garlic our largest crop is a hardneck porcelain variety called Music. This is the most abundantly grown garlic in Ontario due to its ability to thrive in cold climates and because it stores so well. Music was introduced to Ontario from Italy in the 1980's by Al Music. It is white-skinned with a pink blush and makes four to six big cloves that are easy to peel. The taste is medium hot with a true garlic flavour.
We also grow other hardneck varieties including Czech Broadleaf, Legacy and Hungarian Rocambole. Although availability of these varieties at LOVE Garlic is currently limited (crops are being expanded every year), we encourage you to explore the array of taste and colour offered by the many, many cultivars now available from local Ontario growers. For the best selection we recommend that you visit us at the Orangeville Market on Broadway or the Toronto Garlic Festival.
