Elephant Garlic

Appears in
Oxford Companion to Food

By Alan Davidson

Published 2014

  • About

elephant garlic one of the various forms of Allium ampeloprasum, is also called giant or Levant garlic. It is more closely related to the leek than to garlic. However, it has large bulbs and cloves resembling those of garlic in shape and structure, and a mild garlic flavour, and these similarities account for its common name. One cultivar bears the official name Elephant, and it can produce heads weighing as much as 450 g (1 lb) each. The plant originated in the Levant, and can be grown in the same conditions as garlic. It is cultivated commercially in the USA.