Elephant garlic

[PLUMPUDDING]

My bulbs are a good size and have dried nicely so I used one clove in a stir fry. I've never grown them before so was rather disappointed that it didn't taste or smell of garlic. I know it says they are mild, but I expected it to have some garlic flavour. I'd be pleased to hear comments from others who grow it.

[Motherwoman]

I've seen it on sale in the Garlic Farm down here on the Isle of Wight, picked it up and given it a good sniff and put it back down again. The smoked garlic always smells divine but doesn't seem to translate that smell into flavour so I stick with the standard garlic.

[Primrose]

I've grown it for two or three years now and initially bought it thinking they were jumbo size garlic bulbs which gave you more for your buck. We're garlic lovers and I must say I was slightly disappointed in the mild flavour too. I continue growing it because I always seem to have a few spare bulbs left over to plant out for next season but I think I'll probably stick to ordinary garlic once my current supply of bulbs run out.

I think elephant garlic has more a flavour of leek than garlic although of course they all belong to the same family.

[PLUMPUDDING]

Fortunately my normal garlic has produced a good crop so I won't be going short and should have enough left to plant for next year. I'll have to read up on elephant garlic recipes and uses to see if I can get some flavour out of it.

[Motherwoman]

Perhaps its a case of treating it more like a veg than a flavouring.

[Pa Snip]

Gave up elephant garlic as a waste of time years ago. Far too mild. Not really a garlic.

[PLUMPUDDING]

Recipes suggest roasting the whole bulbs in foil then squeezing out the cooked flesh onto jacket potatoes etc. but there aren't any recipes using it with other things where the flavour would come out as far as I could see. On the other hand it still contains a similar range of nutrients to the rest of the allium family so might be ok for people who don't like the garlic flavour.

It cost me about £7 for one bulb so I want to get my money's worth . I might start a little permanent bed using all the little bulbils they produced this year and leave it to its own devices.

[Pa Snip]

£7 for one bulb !!!! you wuz robbed

[PLUMPUDDING]

I agree Pa, it was an impulse buy at Harrogate Show.

[Muddyboot68]

I find the elephant garlic that I planted 2 years ago did have a mild garlic flavor compared to "normal" garlic, I found that they did not grow as large as I thought they would. On harvesting them I missed one and it has grown again and it has got to the size that I expected after the first year. I'm going to grow over two years to see if the flavor improves. I'll let you all know in two years.

[Primrose]

My elephant garlic this year was pathetic size wise but I had to dig it out a while ago because the leaves were yellowing and dying back anyway and I needed the space for other vegetables. I think Elephant garlic is a bit of a misnomer as it has more the flavour of a leek than garlic and anybody expecting a doubly powerful garlic flavour will be disappointed. In a good year I've grown bulbs the size of apples but I've found that size seems to have no relation to pungency of flavour. However big the bulb it still tastes more like a leek than a garlic bulb. Not really for true garlic lovers I suspect.

[Primrose]

. I might start a little permanent bed using all the little bulbils they produced this year and leave it to its own devices.

Over several years I've replanted all the little bulbils produced by elephant garlic and they've either disappeared, or if they've eventually grown they've produced a scrawny stalk the size of a spring onion.

[Westi]

I've been tempted to grow them but a normal clove or 2 of proper garlic is all I need! Would have them rotting in storage if the size they are supposed to get was actually possible on my sandy plot!

[robo]

I've grown them for the last four years , mainly as my eldest daughter likes them this year was not good for elephant garlic as I only got two bulbs out of an expected twelve all my other garlic has done ok