The silver anniversary of the Garlic Festival ended as a
stunning achievement and a fun trip for those who worked and
attended.
The silver anniversary of the Garlic Festival ended as a stunning achievement and a fun trip for those who worked and attended. A festival lasting 25 years surprises a lot of people. How could it be great year after year? Sometimes I forget myself, until I have that first bite of calamari, standing with dripping fork amid a crowd of people in front of Gourmet Alley. Then I remember what makes it so perfect:
• Variety: When I need a break from a garlic mouthful, I get a butterscotch frozen yogurt. After that refreshing treat, I’m ready to get back into the fragrant trenches. This year, a stellar addition was the garlic ginger chicken stir fry at Gourmet Alley; what a wonderful, fragrant, ginger-laced addition from master chefs Gene Sakahara and Sam Bozzo. It’s fun to walk around the ranch side and see platefuls of red crawdads, paper trays of fried artichoke hearts and fistfuls of roasted corn. I saw one man clearly enjoying his top choices: a huge turkey leg in one hand and a mug of beer in the other.
• Kookiness: The strange foods, alligator tail and kangaroo, mix with the old favorites – garlic wine and garlic ice cream. They may not taste the best, but lots of people want to try them at least once.
• Drama: Some visitors watch the calamari pyro chefs for half an hour, gaping at the flames that roar toward the roof and scorch the rafters. The pyro chefs are not just calamari experts, they’re first-class entertainers, mopping each others’ brows, trying to see whose flame is the biggest. When they’re performing, I’m one of the tourists, too.
• Entertainment: Can you believe Karri Duke has bellydanced at every one of the 25 festivals? She looks great and continues to entertain with her troop. Shaboom cannot lose. No matter how hot it is, their dance floor is packed. And the Red Elvises have achieved almost cult status with people flocking to hear them on their strangely big and bright instruments.
• Friendliness: I love to pour wine coolers at the Gilroy Foundation booth. I get to talk to hundreds of visitors, ask their kids about the Children’s Area, find out where they’re from. We tease our repeat customers and ask how many years they’ve been coming to the festival. We give advice on garlic wine and what to eat. I know we’re not alone. Volunteers all over the festival love the visitors. And I think that’s part of the festival’s unending success: the visitors love us back.
• Now, for some cooking. You can’t possibly have had enough garlic. Here are some recipes from “The Garlic Lovers’ Cookbook, New Edition,” compiled by the Gilroy Garlic Festival Association. This cookbook is a lot of fun, with recipe contest winners’ creations along with local folks’ favorites. This would be a perfect gift for someone out of town or a nice addition to your own bookshelf. It’s $14.95 and available at booksellers everywhere (ISBN 1-58761-129-5; published by Ten Speed Press). You can also order online at www.tenspeed.com. It’s under “cookbooks,” “garlic,” item number 5, 2003 edition.
• Beautiful eggplant: Eggplant is at its best when flavored with garlic, onions and tomatoes. This recipe is from Rose Emma Pelliccione of Gilroy. Serve with crackers or chips.
Rose Emma’s Eggplant Relish
3 cups eggplant, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/3 cup chopped green peppers
1 medium onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1/3 cup oil
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
1 (4 oz.) can mushroom stems and pieces
1/2 cup pimiento-stuffed olives
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. seasoned salt
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. pepper
Put eggplant, green pepper, onion, garlic and oil in a skillet. Cover and cook gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add tomato paste, mushrooms with liquid and remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer 30 minutes. Turn into a covered dish and refrigerate overnight to allow flavors to blend.
• A use for zucchini: I know a lot of readers have zucchini coming out of their ears. Here’s another recipe from “The Garlic Lovers’ Cookbook, New Edition” that will make good use of a pound of your bounty. The recipe was a contest entry from Mary Ann Rohm of Simi Valley.
Mary Ann’s Fettucine Zucchini
3 T. butter
3 T. olive oil
1 medium sweet red onion, chopped
4 cloves fresh garlic, sliced
1 lb. zucchini, sliced
1 T. parsley
1/4 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. sweet basil
1/4 tsp. thyme
1/8 tsp. marjoram
1/8 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper
1 tsp. lemon juice
2 fresh tomatoes, chopped
1 lb. fettucine
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Melt butter with olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté 5 minutes. Add zucchini and sauté 10 minutes. Add herbs and spices and sauté until zucchini is almost tender. Add lemon juice and tomatoes. Simmer. Cook fettucine in salted boiling water until al dente and drain. Toss with zucchini mixture and top with Parmesan.
• Pork adobo: Jean Baliton of Gilroy entered the Garlic Festival’s recipe contest with this Filipino dish. It’s a cinch to prepare. Just give it the full amount of simmering time and serve with tortillas to sop up the delicious sauce.
Adobo
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
3 lbs. pork, cut into 2-inch cubes
15 whole black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup plus 1 T. vinegar
6 T. soy sauce
2 T. sugar
Mix all ingredients together in large pot and simmer 1 hour. Serve with rice and green vegetables. Serves 6 to 8.
Tip of the Week:
Fresh parsley, or other foods high in chlorophyll content, will help prevent garlic odor on the breath. Parsley has been called “nature’s mouthwash.”
Notes from Jenny’s Kitchen
• If you’ve ever wanted to purchase “The French Laundry Cookbook,” by Thomas Keller, but balked at the $50 price, now’s your opportunity. Epicurious.com is featuring the book for $30. It contains recipes from the famous Napa Valley restaurant, from chic simple to complicated and elegant.
• In case you haven’t read Bon Appetit lately, there’s a great column on basic tools for the kitchen. Each month, writer Dorie Greenspan focuses on another item, such as knife sharpeners, measuring cups and other such items. She recommends her favorites and tells you how many a basic kitchen should have. Great for beginning cooks or experienced ones who are trying to pare down their overstocked cupboards and drawers.
• The Baker’s Catalogue is offering new non-stick kneading gloves for those who like to make bread but hate sticky dough. The gloves are made of a stretchy nylon and come in one size. Available at www.kingarthurflour.com for $5.95.
End notes: “The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it’s the same problem you had last year.” ~ John Foster Dulles, former U.S. Secretary of State (1888-1959)
Happy cooking!
