Author name: Swapnil Bhatnagar

More Than Just a Flavouring

For more than five millennia, garlic has held a unique and dual identity in human culture. It is at once a humble kitchen staple, the secret to a flavour-packed pasta sauce, and a legendary folk remedy, celebrated in history as a powerful healing plant. Known by many evocative names, from “the stinking rose” to the “plant of immortality,” its pungent aroma has permeated not just our culinary traditions but also our medicinal lore, with a reputation for enhancing health and warding off illness that spans continents and centuries. This ancient reverence was not misplaced; modern science is now beginning to confirm many of the beliefs held by our ancestors, unearthing the complex biochemistry behind the bulb’s purported powers.