Garlic Variety Information

Creole

Creole is a type (i.e. a large group) of garlic. You can read about other garlic types in our zine. A hardneck type with the least fibrous scapes (suitable for pesto). Sensitive to spring cold snaps and can be fussy to grow, but they generally do OK in the Pacific Northwest. Superbly complex flavor with varying spiciness depending on the cultivar.

Storage: Up to 10 months after harvest

Varieties: Donostia Red, Rossa di Sulmona, Creole Red, Corsican Red

Chef Tim Wastell’s Tasting Notes for ‘Donostia Red’:

Raw: (Garlicana grown) Delicious complex, rounded flavor. Assertively spicy tasting, vivid on the palate with high heat. (Wapato Island grown) Very similar tasting with more intense biting heat

Cooked: (Garlicana grown) Beautifully sweet and warm tasting, deliciously balanced umami flavor, medium-low heat. (Wapato Island Grown) Nearly Identical tasting, slightly more heat

Culinary recommendations: Chili crisp sauce, fermented chili paste/hot sauces, braised with winter greens, rubbed raw onto bread prior to grilling, sofrito

Silverskin

Silverskins are a type (i.e. a large group) of garlic. You can read about other garlic types in our zine. They are profitable to grow because they have the highest ratio of weight-planted to weight-yielded. They can bolt if stressed, but otherwise make beautiful braids. Straightforward flavor, exceptional storage, and adaptable cultivars are reasons why Silverskin types are the most common type found in supermarkets.

Storage: Up to 12 months after harvest

Varieties: California Late, Silver Rose, Mount St. Helens, Nootka Rose, Idaho Silver

Chef Tim Wastell’s Tasting Notes for ‘Mount St. Helens’:

Raw: (Garlicana grown) Very pleasant. Pungent and earthy tasting, with sharp medium-high heat. (Wapato Island grown) Quite similar tasting, considerably hotter with lingering flavor, much smaller bulbs/cloves

Cooked: (Garlicana grown) Intensely savory flavor, slightly piquant, sturdy beautiful texture low heat level. (Wapato Island grown) Slightly sweeter, same intense savory profile, markedly spicier medium-low heat

Culinary recommendations: bagna cauda (cooked and raw), grated on microplane into dressing for salad with very bitter greens (chicory), rubbed onto bread after grilling

Artichoke

Artichoke is a type (i.e. a large group) of garlic. You can read about other garlic types in our zine. Another softneck type that lends well to braiding and rarely ever bolts making it easy to grow in many environments. Mild, vegetal and simple in flavor.

Storage: Up to 10 months after harvest

Varieties: California Early, Polish White, Inchelium Red, Lorz Italian, Island Star, Corsican Red

Chef Tim Wastell’s Tasting Notes for ‘Polish White’:

Raw: Very bright “green” tasting, piquant flavor, medium heat level

Cooked: Balanced savory/sweet flavor, smooth on the palate, low heat level

Culinary recommendations: Raw into tomato and stone fruit salad, cooked whole cloves pureed into soup (cold vichyssoise or hot celeriac), as filling for pasta