The Healing, Harmony, and Culinary Magic of Garlic

May 15, 2020

Garlic has been touted throughout the ages for its healing properties, for its ability to stave off heart disease, lower cholesterol, treat infections, boost the immune system, and more. It’s one of those kitchen staples that I've always enjoyed working with. There is just something about the bulb’s easy spice, something that fills even the most mundane dish with a burst of flavour. Pair it with a dry earthy herb like elegant saffron and you create food that poets and chefs have coveted and called gourmet.

Though, despite my love for the pungent vegetable, yes, garlic is a vegetable, I’ve rarely used it in large quantities at one time. This is mostly out of fear of the after-smell, and out of respect for my neighbours who would have to live with the smell wafting out of my kitchen long after I’m done cooking. So when I came across a recipe for a garlic soup at a small rural festival, I expected the garlic to be kept in moderation, thinking that others shared my concerns. But I was about to learn that not only was I completely wrong in that assumption, my fear that excessive garlic would drive people away was actually far removed from the truth.

In autumn 2013, when my husband and I wandered into the garlic festival at Avondale Winery in Nova Scotia, I came across a free recipe card that was being handed out titled “Winter Survival Soup.” Looking over the recipe on the drive home, I was excited to see that I’d finally get to cook with saffron, especially since I had drooled over a half ounce bottle priced at $15 every trip I took to the grocery store for a few months prior to finding the recipe.

But what surprised me more was that the recipe called for 5 to 6 heads of garlic, not cloves of garlic…heads! No, a mere 5 to 6 cloves would not do for this recipe apparently. It appeared that “winter survival” called for what I assumed was an excess to actually keep people away, to stave off sickness by warding off people through the pungency of garlic. After all, it worked on vampires, didn’t it? Still, despite my reservations, I gathered the ingredients at the store following the recipe card perfectly. What followed was nothing short of culinary magic.

In a cold-infused haze, I sniffled and sneezed my way through making the soup, pairing it with homemade bread. Well, in my haste to try the new recipe, mostly due to my exuberance to work with the precious saffron that I finally had an excuse to buy, I didn't quite realize that there are actually different types of garlic. The 6 heads of garlic that I used were actually elephant garlic, a plant more closely related to a leak, much larger than standard garlic, and with a milder taste. Though, none of that mattered in the quantity I was using it.

Taking our first sips, the soup was so spicy that one taste made my husband and I sweat instantly. But it tasted like instant goodness, like the best medicine a cold-riddled body could hope for. The saying “it cures what ails ya” immediately sprung to mind. The garlic, cumin, and red pepper chilli cleared the sinuses with one sip, the chicken stock eased my sore throat, and the light touch of saffron lent a drying medicine to the soup. Paired with homemade bread, it felt like a meal full of love, care, and healing. Despite my fears of excess, there was a strange balance achieved among the ingredients.

Though perhaps what was most surprising about the soup was how it actually drew people together, challenging my initial assumptions about garlic. Since the creation of the very first batch, I’ve had numerous requests from friends and neighbours, sick and healthy, who encountered left-overs heating in the microwave, who heard about it from my husband’s ravings, or who had the powerful garlic smell dance from my kitchen into theirs. Despite the labour involved with peeling each clove by hand, an almost meditative task, I was always happy to make extra soup, mixing together large batches in my oversized pot and sending out portions with homemade loaves of bread to complete the healing duo.

Now, in a time when sickness and the health of our loved ones rests heavy in our hearts, “Winter Survival Soup” feels like a gift from the earth through the kitchen, from one house to the next. I was wrong to think that an overpowering spicy garlic smell would drive people apart. Indeed, in some magical way, it's actually brought people closer, binding them to something profound that only food seems to elicit. So as I make it now, here in my isolated and quiet kitchen, for only my husband and me, I think of those I would bring garlic, saffron, and bread to. I send pictures of the recipe to friends and family all around the world, along with messages of healing, laughter, and joy.

So, I guess now more than ever, garlic really is good for the heart, and a garlic soup is the medicine we need.

Instructions
5 or 6 whole heads of garlic (about 1 cup peeled cloves)
1/4 cup Liquid Gold Garlic olive oil (or a robust EVOO)

In a heavy 2 qt saucepan, gently cook the garlic in the olive oil over low heat until the cloves are thoroughly softened, about 10-15 minutes. Do not let them get brown. Remove with slotted spoon and set aside.

Add: 1 tbsp. dried red chilli pepper
6 c. chicken stock
1/3 c. sherry

Bring to simmer.

Stir in: a pinch of cumin
a pinch of saffron threads
sea salt and fresh ground pepper

Use a fork to crush the tender garlic cloves to a paste and stir the paste into the soup. Taste and add more salt if necessary. Cover the soup and leave to summer very gently for about 15 minutes.

While the soup cooks, toast slices of bread drizzled with olive oil and rubbed with garlic. Serve the soup as is hot from the pot, floating a slice of garlicky toast on each serving. If you wish, tear toast, dd a poached egg and a sprinkle of grated manchego cheese.

Samantha Stevens is a soon-to-graduate Masters student in journalism at Concordia University, and a soon-to-start PhD student in Canadian Studies at Carleton University.