Garlic

Garlic has so much history. People use it for so many things. It was used in mythology, in medicinal history, and in many modern cooking recipes.

____HISTORY____

Garlic was used in stories and mythology. To repel vampires and to heal sick pepole.  Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to Central Asia and northeastern Iran, and has long been a common seasoning worldwide, with a history of several thousand years of human consumption and use. 

  ____Medicinal____

Today, claims for the health benefits of garlic include lower blood pressure and cholesterol, an anti-inflammatory effect, a reduced risk of cancer, and a stronger immune system. Long ago people thought you used garlic to clean your self, get rid of warts and bumps (got rid of cancer)  and people crushed it in order to apply it to the hair.

    ____Myths____

According to Pliny, garlic and onions were invoked as deities by the Egyptians at the taking of oaths. The inhabitants of Pelusium in lower Egypt, who worshipped the onion, are said to have held both it and garlic in aversion as food.

Egyptian slaves were given a daily ration of garlic, as it was believed to ward off illness and to increase strength and endurance. As indicated in ancient Egyptian records, the pyramid builders were given beer, flatbread, raw garlic and onions as their meager food rations. Upon threatening to abandon the pyramids leaving them unfinished, they were given more garlic. It cost the Pharaoh today’s equivalent of 2 million dollars to keep the Cheops pyramid builders supplied it with garlic.

______________other weird facts______________

Where did the name “Russian Penicillin” come from? During WWII, Russian soldiers ran out of penicillin and they literally started using crushed garlic in place of the medicine. That practice earned garlic its moniker.