Heirloom garlic: it really IS delicious

Three weeks ago, I found a new vendor at my favorite farmer's market: Sacred Organics garlic. I snapped some photos, and was delighted at the passionately hayseed-y look of the vendors, obviously either the farmers themselves or actors skilled at the craft of impersonating the quintessential garlic farmer. I brought my $8/pound Oregon Blue and Chesnok varieties home, and found them delicious. I was about to write up my post, surely breaking the news on the newest trend in heirloom gardening. And then yesterday, I picked up a copy of October's Martha Stewart Living. And there they were, my garlic farmers, their glory glossily captured straight from their actual farm. Damn. Scooped by Martha - who was probably still in prison when these photos were taken!

Well, she may have scooped me, but she didn't try the Oregon Blue (so far as I could tell). It was delicious, tangy, utterly delightful. Better still was the Chesnok red, which I tried it in several recipes. Most notably I used it in my personal fave, the simple goat cheese garlic dip from Trattoria. It was a huge departure from the garlic I usually buy in the grocery store; not at all sharp, and without that dehydration-causing bite, even when eaten entirely raw. And those photos - well, I'm a little biased, but I think mine are better than Martha's.