Garlic

APPEARANCE: Cloven or whole, garlic can be recognized at short range by its white papery husks and at long range by its inimitable smell when crushed.

QUALITY: Whole heads should be uniformly firm; if not, inner cloves may have dried up or been consumed by fungus. Individual cloves should be similarly full and firm, with no sign of shrivel, rot, worms, or sprouts; the larger they are, the easier to peel.

COMMENTS: Garlic is a cosmopolitan condiment, more than 5,000 years old. Asians and Europeans alike employ this brash onion for its distinct and distinctive flavor, and reap dividends of health from its pungent constituents.