Aug 20th, 2023 Sunday Sunny
Ever since we started growing garlic, I dream of making those impressive-looking garlic “braids” that I used to see in my hometown.
Given how simple it is to grow garlic and how essential garlic is to a typical kitchen, every mid-summer garlic farmers would bring their harvest of the year to nearby cities, where eager shoppers would buy a whole year’s garlic supply in one shopping trip. While you may pay by weight, directly getting one or two of the garlic braids (priced per braid) seems faster and more convenient (also cheaper).
The convention is that one braid has fifty garlic heads. My mom would first ask the price, and then inspected the quality of each garlic on the braid (not sure whether she actually checked the quantity), and bargained with the vendor. After all, my parents were not well-off, so they tried to stretch every cent as far as possible.
Once the deal was agreed on, I would be the lucky helper to carry our booty home. Usually we would finish one and a half braid throughout the year. Not all farmers wanted to sell half-braids, so we would get one whole braid and a bunch of loose ones. My dad would hang the whole braid on a hook in the corner of the kitchen. By the time the braid disappeared, it was another summer – time to go hunt for garlic again 🙂
In our own garden, our garlic crop in the first year was disappointing. We only had a few cloves from local farmers, and the rest were store-bought garlic that generally did not sprout. We learned from the mistake and acquired ten organic garlic the next year. The outcome was better yet still unsatisfying – almost all the cloves grew into bulbs, but instead of the fist-like bulbs you see in market, ours were like tiny cat paws. I tried to make a braid out of them, but it looked pathetic 🙁
This year, we finally had a plentiful yield – I counted at least eighty! After setting aside the seed garlic that we will bury into the soil again in a couple of months, I started my project of garlic braid making.
Well, I have never been a very crafty person. For one thing, I am not someone who can quickly figure out a seemingly complicated process (e.g. knitting) just by watching another person do it once or twice, or listening to a brief description. I need step-by-step detailed unambiguous instruction. For another, even if I can imagine how a product is created in my mind, commanding my hands to execute those orders is a separate challenge. Because of these reasons, youtube has been a great friend – I can re-watch a video many times, pause any time I want, until the result looks right.
So I followed this method, only to feel frustrated when I realize that, unlike the pliable garlic stems that all the youtubers were working on, our garlic must have been drying in our basement for a little too long. The stems were brittle, hard to bend without breaking. What should I do? I can’t and probably should not “un-dry” them.
Ah ha! An idea occurred to me. I took out a mallet, and pounded the stems flat. This changed the 3D stalks into 2D, so maybe I could shape them more easily?
It worked – not as perfect, but acceptable. Finally, after making our dining room a mess with dry leaves scattered and dirt everywhere (my husband will vacuum soon 😛 ), I am looking at my fruits of labor – hopefully enough garlic till next August ?