The Chinese Purple is a "softneck" garlic variety that behaves like a "hardneck" when grown here in the Pacific Northwest, but without having a true “hard” central stem. It has six to eight very large cloves that are quite easy to peel, two characteristics of "hardneck" garlic. Chinese Purple garlic is a short storing garlic as most don't last more than 4 to 5 months at room temperature before sprouting. Marie told me she had just eaten some a few nights before and its signature heat was just developing after two weeks. I bought a bunch of three and planned to use at least one head for my roast chicken on Monday.
Although the outer and inner skins of the garlic were still pliable for the most part, the purple covers of on the large cloves were easy to peel. For my palate quite a lot of heat has already been developed in the raw cloves with telltale mustiness on the finish. I actually used two entire heads for my roasted chicken this evening, and the roasted cloves were mildly sweet with a pleasant, aromatic and spicy finish. I am now thinking about pickling a number of my favorite varieties this year to find out what a little vinegar does to their flavors. Anselmo’s now has a website, and you can buy all of their organic garlic varieties right from the farm with no middleman adding overhead and profit to increase the price. All in all, a great start to the garlic season with fifty six varieties to go…
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