Posted on 10/30/2006 1:03:58 AM PST by Mrs Ivan
It seems not just unlikely, but utterly preposterous. The French have run out of garlic.
Not, it should be made clear, the white stuff commonly seen in shops and supermarkets. British cooks may think they are being Gallic by using garlic but the product most often found in kitchens comes from China or Argentina, imported in bulk and kept in cold stores.
The supply of violet garlic from France has come to a halt for British importer Brian Page But violet garlic, esteemed by the gourmand and grown only in one small part of France, cannot be obtained for love nor money.
Which is a big problem for Brian Page, or "Garlic Brian" as he is known to his customers. He is the sole importer to Britain of violet garlic, which he collects in his van every two weeks from the village of Cadours in the Haute--Garonne, 50 miles west of Toulouse.
He sells to leading delicatessens such as Sally Clarke's, The Spice Shop and La Fromagerie in London and Valvona and Crolla in Edinburgh. But he has had to tell them he has made his last delivery of the year. He has also been unable to obtain rose garlic from the Lautrec region.
"I know it sounds absurd but there really is none left, and the French are very embarrassed about it," said Mr Page, from Rogate, Hants.
"I would normally be visiting my supplier, Remy Fedrico, up until December. But he has sold every head of garlic he has grown this year."
Cadours, with a population of 800, is the home of violet garlic and Mr Fedrico is one of a handful of celebrated growers and the winner of the gold medal at the Garlic Festival for three out of the last five years.
The origin of the shortfall appears to be the discovery that garlic from Spain was being passed off as French.
To protect their product the French growers have awarded their prized crop an appellation controllée status.
"The consequence of this is that an already highly regarded product is now even more in demand," said Mr Page.
"It has a snob value, if you like, and the Germans and Swiss have been beating a path to Cadours. I have bought my last van-load back and there will be no more until next spring."
Garlic is harvested from late April and Mr Page buys it "wet" during the summer and then from storage barns on the farm during the autumn and early winter. It sells for more than £1.50 a head compared with an average of 35p for white garlic.
"There is no comparison between the two," he said. "The tresses I bring back have heads that are almost double the size of white garlic and they will keep for a year without going soft."
Mr Page was married to a French woman and they raised their five children in Provence. When his marriage ended he returned to Britain.
"I had no money and did not know what to do", he said. "I saw from all the television cookery programmes that the British were being encouraged to use garlic, but when I saw what was available in the shops I was dismayed."
He drove to Cadours, negotiated with Mr Fedrico, and has been importing violet garlic since 1997 under the name Simply Garlic.
Patricia Michelson, who runs La Fromagerie, said: "When Brian told me that there was to be no more violet garlic this year I would have bought every bulb he had. It is large, firm, stores well and has a delightful flavour."
"Some supermarkets put their white garlic in purple netting to create the optical illusion that it is violet. But there is no substitute for the real thing."
This will cause a stink!
I don't know about French garlic, but I prefer California garlic-big, fragrant bulbs- in my food.
The purple stuff really is good - very plump and sweet. Of course, now that I know it's a problem getting it, I'll have to go see if I can find it or if all we have now at my grocery is plain white. I don't have any violet or rose in hand.
I think they are about shut-down aren't they? I noticed that the imported garlic is nowhere near as good, but it's cheap cheap cheap.
Elephant garlic from Gilroy CA rocks.
Usage note: A gourmet is one who has discriminating taste in food and wine. A gourmand is one who enjoys food of fine quality, and also one who enjoys food in great quantities. Glutton signifies one who simply eats to excess, without reference to the quality of the fare consumed.
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