Why Isn't the Garlic in my Kitchen Smelly?
Published On: 11-13-2011 02:57pm
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Category: General Topics
After a few hours crafting and making some new handmade cards or sewing my latest creation, I get really hungry. I think of gourmet foods, but I really don’t want to cook at that moment. I just want to eat. I look at my vegetable bin and notice there are bulbs of garlic that have been sitting there for a while, but there is no garlic smell. However when I sit down to eat a tasty, aromatic meal, that hopefully someone else has prepared, my nose quickly alerts me if the food contains garlic. Why is that?
I thought I’d first get some background on garlic. It has been long used in treating ailments. Many centuries ago the Greek physicians Hippocrates and Dioscorides recommended garlic for treating stomach problems, cancer, wounds, infections, heart trouble, and even leprosy! More recently, scientists have studied how garlic tends to add benefits to our circulatory system.
Now back to the original question. Why does garlic have that smell in food but not when it’s in the bulb in your vegetable bin? It is because garlic contains potent chemicals that are isolated from each other until a clove is bruised, cut, or crushed. When a clove of garlic is minced, an enzyme is released causing an instantaneous chemical reaction. Voila! Here is the source of garlic’s aroma and taste!
This leads to the next question. Is there anything you can do to get rid of that garlic breath after a tasty meal? Recommendations include chewing parsley sprigs or a bit of the spice known as clove (not garlic clove). However garlic breath comes from the lungs, so mouthwash and parsley do not eliminate garlic breath altogether. The best remedy is to have eat garlic, then no one will offend another.
