We cannot do without garlic in the kitchen, so we want to choose the best in the store. We consider our own, domestic – Czech, to be such a right. But how to distinguish it from imported mallets?
If you also try to find out in the shops where the products sold come from and you give preference to local products, you may have a big problem in many cases. It often happens that different producers pass off an imported and merely repackaged product or product as their own. We can come across potatoes or garlic, for example, which “appears” to be local, but at the same time it has traveled a long way across Europe, or even from China or Argentina.
It will be best to grow garlic in your own garden, for example according to the YouTube video from eChalupark:
Source: Youtube
Disbelief is in order
Can we be sure that the labeling of Czech garlic will always be true? Without wanting to suspect anyone of fraud, or, perhaps more gently, of editing the facts, let us learn to distinguish the country of its true origin by its own characteristics. It will require more attention, but you will bring home quality.
What does Czech garlic look like?
At the outset, we should say that Czech garlic usually does not look as perfect as, for example, Chinese garlic. While pieces from this Asian country travel to us one by one, relatively large and above all perfectly cleaned, the Czech heads have more natural shapes, are diverse in size and, moreover, the local growers supply them to the market mostly with parts of the roots. We usually won’t see that in the case of large-scale production, be it the already mentioned Chinese or Spanish ones.
It should be firm
The difference is also in the strength of the head, when the Czech one is difficult to split in the store, while the imported goods often crumble on their own. Furthermore, it is also about the strength of the skins, as Czech garlic usually has much thinner casings for individual cloves and generally gives the impression that it comes from a garden rather than a factory.
Smell tells a lot
Where possible, try to smell the garlic as well. With local production, you are very likely to feel a pungent touch even through the skins, while less aromatic imported goods will certainly not offer you such a sensation. But it will be the same in the kitchen in the case of the taste of garlic, so be really careful when choosing it.
More expensive is really better – and especially local
A slightly negative, but at first glance, obvious difference between Czech and imported garlic is also its price. Ours, i.e. the local one, tends to be more expensive, but don’t despair, in terms of price-performance ratio, it often works out better than its cheaper variant.
Absolute certainty from the farm
Do you want to be 100% sure that you are buying Czech garlic? Take some time and make a trip to the local grower, from whom you will not only get certainty of the origin of the produce, but also quality for good money. It is worth it, because garlic, if it is really grown with care and in good conditions, offers not only an excellent taste to the prepared dishes, but also many, many health-beneficial substances. It is not for nothing that it is compared to the best superfoods, we use it as one of the strongest natural antibiotics and take it to help with all kinds of pain. So let’s make his choice count.
Sources: www.jsmekocky.cz, www.irozhlas.cz, www.bydlimekvalitne.cz
