Caraglio Heirloom Garlic

The area around the small mountain foothill town of Caraglio in the Grana Valley has long been particularly suited to the cultivation of garlic. Thanks to the proximity of the Alps, the winters are cold and snowy, while the springs and summers are cool and breezy. This microclimate gives the garlic a delicate flavor (when cooked, but also raw) and makes it easy to digest.
The garlic is sown in autumn and the plants are cultivated according to traditional techniques, tended by hand, with no synthetic chemicals and a three-year rotation with legumes (like lentils and beans), grains (like Ottofile corn and barbarià, an intercropping of rye and wheat used in the past by farmers to make a particular flour) and other crops (like potatoes and cabbage). The soil is fertilized with cattle manure.
The plant is vigorous and hardy. The bulb is small (20-60 mm) with tapered cloves and wine-red streaks. After the harvest, the bulbs are dried on racks and then packaged, all by hand.
Heritage Caraglio garlic has delicate perfumes and aromas, which are echoed on the palate. Its flavor persistence makes it the ideal ingredient in typical Piedmontese dishes like soma d’aj (bruschetta with country bread, garlic, extra-virgin olive oil and salt), bagna cauda (a garlic and anchovy dipping sauce) and bagnetto verde (green sauce).

Season

Heritage Caraglio garlic is harvested on feast day of Saint John the Baptist, June 24. It is ready to be consumed after at least 40 days of drying.