More about French Garlic

French Garlic is generally harvested at the end of July or the beginning of August. It can then be sold as fresh garlic, however it would normally be allowed to "dry" for a couple of weeks, sometimes in outbuildings or normally if the weather permits, laid in the fields. The process does not affect the actual garlic clove, which remains juicy, the outer husk being the only affected part.

Once dried sufficiently, the garlic bulbs (or heads), which still have their long stalk attached, can be woven into strings of various quantities. The weaving of the Strings is often performed by young girls, whose nimble fingers make light work of the construction.. The resultant weave is a work of art.

Normally for the French consumer there would be a minimum of 10 heads in a String, but can be as many as 90 heads in one string !

As with most parts of France, food and drink products can be specific to one region. In a small region within Picardie in North Eastern France, the preference is to smoke the Garlic Strings.

The Garlic Farmers hang many strings of Garlic in their smokehouses and cold smoke them for anything up to 10 days. The wood used to create the smoke can be of various varieties, pine, oak or even corn husks are used amongst others. The result is a deep golden brown coloured string, which has a wonderful odour of smoky garlic.

Once smoked, the strings are left to dry again before being sold at local markets.

The Garlic Strings, both Smoked and Un-Smoked have an excellent shelf life, it not unusual for them to remain edible for over 12 months from harvesting !

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