The Garlic Book: A Garland of Simple, Savory, Robust Recipes

by Susan Belsinger

Recipes for appetizers and first courses, sauces, main courses, vegetable dishes, and condiments featuring garlic are accompanied by information on the history, lore, and health benefits of garlic

Genres: Cookbooks, Food

71 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1993

Reviews

[Samantha Gronberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely little recipe book full of interesting Garlic themed recipes from around the world. The first 24 pages are all centered around garlic's long history and the many cultures where garlic takes center stage. You will also find a simple guide on when and how to plant garlic and which species are the best choices based on your location and personal preferences. The recipes are relatively easy and all sound delicious (it helps that I haven't eaten much today). I look forward to trying out the Garlic Soufflé and the traditional Tomato, Bread, and Garlic Soup. I'm a bit apprehensive about the dessert section. As someone who's been to Gilroy Ca. (USA's Garlic capital) and who's tried the rank and rather odd garlic ice cream, chocolate covered garlic sounds like a real turn off, but hey maybe it's the next big thing in the chocolate industry.

[Jamie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nice intro with a detailed history of garlic, unfortunately the recipes were quite boring. Everyone knows how to make garlic bread, and I would sleep better tonight knowing that people don't actually make a certain recipe found towards the end of the book: Chocolate covered Garlic. What?!

[Sonja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good varietal information, history, medical claims and growing information and that's in the beginning of the book! The recipes all sound yummy too!

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not everyone likes garlic, and not everyone would like this book. Being a garlic-lover myself, I found this book to be a quick and enjoyable read.

The first chapter was by far my favorite. In addition to the history of garlic, this chapter also held tidbits of garlic-related scientific facts. Overall, this section was a very good survey of the what, why, and where of garlic.

As for the recipes, some of them are doable and others not so much. That the instructions are short and simple may be a good thing for some of the recipes, but not all of them. For example, the instructions for how to make a garlic souffle are only half a page. Though I myself have never made a souffle, it seems that more detailed instructions would be helpful (especially since this book is from 1993, so to Google "souffle help" would not have been an option).

So though the first part of this book was quite enjoyable, my mixed feelings about the recipe instructions (and the fact that there is a desserts section that contains a recipe for chocolate-covered garlic) is why I am giving this book 3 stars.

[Eric Hines]

food & cooking