GILROY GARLIC FESTIVAL

GILROY GARLIC FESTIVAL

Published: 09/26/2009 by Michelle Riaz

Pop quiz: What is the garlic capital of the world?
Answer: Gilroy, California

Billed as the “Ultimate Summer Food Fair” the Gilroy Garlic Festival is so not playing when it comes to serious cooking. But all you have to do is drive within 20 minutes of the ever-so-not-exciting-looking town of Gilroy for your nose to tell you exactly where you are. There’s an indescribable, deep, earthy, pungent, compelling smell of fresh garlic. But please, people, PLEASE, do not come to Gilroy, particularly at festival time (which is normally at the end of July) unless you truly, honestly, genuinely, seriously LOVE GARLIC.

Either you do, or you just don’t. Answer the following questions truthfully:

1- Do you get downright aggravated when you go bagel shopping and they don’t have any garlic bagels?

2- Do you enjoy eating whole roasted heads (not just a clove, baby) of garlic, creamy and intense, spread on (pick any) (a) toast, (b) crackers, (c) salad, (d) potatoes (my personal fav), or (e) _________ you fill in the blank?

3- Do you agree that the best way to serve fresh cooked artichokes is with freshly-pressed garlic cloves (lots of ‘em) sauteed in fresh butter/olive oil?

4- Do you use coarse-ground garlic powder in your cooking the way your parents used to use salt and pepper?

5- Have you come to appreciate the intense crunchy overwhelming flavor of a raw garlic clove in your homemade soup or, if you’re really a garlic lover – straight up?

5 Yeses = Major Garlic Fiend ! (I love ‘ya!)
4 Yeses = Solid Garlic Lover (can take you anywhere,with a few breath mints, o’course!)
3 Yeses = Still Finding Yourself (when it comes to your can’t-live-without-it / can’t-live-with-it relationship with garlic)
2 Yeses = Haven’t Been Around Garlic All That Long (but still have garlic-loving potential)
1 Yes = Live A Little (& stop listening to all those boring fools who act like they’re just too good for something as divine as garlic!)

But back to the Gilroy Garlic Festival – you simply must attend, if you haven’t already. And if you have attended, then we’ll see you next year because we both know you won’t be able to stay away. Let’s take this year’s winning entry in the Cook-Off competition – an indescribably delectable ‘Spicy Garlic Butter Cookie.’ Think you wouldn’t like it? Au contraire, yes you would. Most definitely.

Okay, okay, so Gilroy gets a little hot & sticky in the high summertime month of July. The festival takes place in a park, though, with lots of tents and shade trees and cool refreshing drinks. And garlic helps you cool down, right? No, well, a superfood can’t do everything.... General admission is only $12 per adult per day/ children 6-12 $6 and under 6 are free. You do have to pay for the dishes you select (from $2-$12, depending on the dish) but they are so amazing! Plus, the admission price includes parking, musical entertainment, cooking demonstrations, and a children’s area. It’s a heck of a deal, a not-to-be-missed yearly ritual in the life of a true garlic lover.

A trip to the Festival isn’t complete until you’ve visited Gourmet Alley and sampled an array of delicacies that include stuffed mushrooms, peppersteak sandwiches, pasta con pesto, calamari, scampi, Italian sausage sandwiches, garlic bread and garlic fries, all while observing Gourmet Alley’s chefs share their preparation secrets in hourly cooking seminars. Let’s not overlook specialty items for the true garlic aficionado, like garlic ice cream (I said it could cool you off, didn’t I?), garlic salmon, Spanish garlic shrimp, garlic buttered popcorn, garlic chicken kabob, Cajun-fried garlic catfish, garlic gator on a stick, and other delicacies....the list is endless.

Suffice it to say that once you attend Gilroy’s Garlic Festival, neither you nor your mouth will ever be the same...and that’s a good thing. More info to be found at http://gilroygarlicfestival.com