Thirty years ago, it was the most reviled foodstuff in Britain - a reeking, continental affectation that could ruin a decent spaghetti bolognese and make a trip on the Paris Metro unbearable. Now, in these cod-Mediterranean, Jamie Oliver days of aioli, hummus and gaz- pacho, we are warming to Europe's most pungent herb and using it in excess while garlic powders, pills and supplements are prominent on chemists' shelves.
The current thinking is that garlic doesn't just taste good roasted or fried, but is a source of vitamins C and E, protein, calcium, cobalt, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, sulphur and zinc. Last year, scientists at Wolverhampton University concluded that garlic could kill the bacteria associated with stomach ulcers, while in March, Yuji Karasaki at Kitakyushu University reported that the protein lectin, extracted from garlic, inhibits the growth of cancerous cells while leaving healthy cells intact.
Then, in May, garlic producers rejoiced when a US trial showed that 72 volunteers who took a daily Allimax capsule (containing allicin, the main active ingredient in garlic) were one-third as likely to develop a cold as the 72 who took a placebo. If they did succumb, they recovered more quickly.
Though the pro-garlic lobby is vociferous now, the herb has traditionally had a bad press. The Roman satirist Horace declared it "more poisonous than hemlock" and said it made him ill. (Indeed, garlic can produce heartburn and flatulence when taken on an empty stomach - and it is not recommended for children under 12 with immature digestive systems, or during pregnancy, because it can stimulate menstrual bleeding.) In the Muslim faith, there is a legend that when Satan left the Garden of Eden, a clove of garlic sprang up where he had planted his left foot - perhaps the origin of the western idea that garlic wards off werewolves and vampires. In Ancient Greece and Egypt, however, garlic was considered magical in other ways. Greek athletes chewed it before competing, as a way of boosting energy. The Egyptian slaves who built the pyramids of Cheops were given a clove a day to sustain their strength and fight off illness.
Writing in the 17th century, the herbalist Nicholas Culpeper was well aware of garlic's benefits - but brutally honest about its drawbacks. In his Complete Herbal he says it "provokes urine and women's courses [periods], helps the biting of mad dogs and other venomous creatures, kills worms in children, cuts and voids tough phlegm... and ripens and breaks imposthumes, or other swellings." But he warns, "the offensiveness of the breath of him that hath eaten Garlick will lead you by the nose to the knowledge therof."
The truth is, garlic stinks - and this has created a challenge for manufacturers of herbal supplements. Walk into any chemists and you will find coated pills to swallow whole and "odourless" capsules containing charcoal or parsley to neutralise the smell. Though many work, some interfere with the very mechanism that gives garlic its medicinal effect.
In 1858, Louis Pasteur confirmed the antibacterial action of garlic (which has 1% of the strength of penicillin and was used as a cheap antibiotic in the trenches duringthe first world war) and biochemists subsequently linked this to the active ingredient allicin. Because allicin is unstable when heated, odourless preparations made by heating or solvent extraction may not work. What's more, allicin isn't present in the bulb itself but is produced by enzyme reaction when the clove is digested or crushed - and chewing remains the best way to release it. Last year, scientists at the University of North Carolina found no benefit in taking garlic supplements as a way of reducing the risk of stomach cancer. By comparison, those who regularly ate raw or cooked garlic cut the risk by half.
That is not to say supplements should be shunned. Properly prepared, "standardised" garlic tablets can slightly lower cholesterol levels, reduceblood pressure, minimise clotting and generally protect the heart.
