The Rose-Coloured Garlic of Lautrec

The romantically named ail rose de Lautrec, plaited into silvery pink tresses, is endowed with two qualities that make it sought-after – it is delicately flavoured, sweet, concentrated and juicy, and the bulbs keep better and longer than any other garlic; in the right conditions (cool, dry and dark – think barn or wine cellar), they will last for up to a year. The Tarn village of Lautrec, a steep, ancient village perché close to Castres, is the hub of the garlic growing industry, whose abundant, pink striped bunches – 4,000 tons of them each year – shedding the thinnest of papery integuments, find their way into every market and most barns, outhouses, kitchens and, eventually, on to tables throughout the region.