Stratford Garlicfestival

Last weekend I went to the Stratford Garlic festival (It rained the whole time we were there) but I thought it was pretty good. There were two rows of vendors may 60 – 70 in total with lots of different Garlic and Garlic Associates. Now when you buy garlic at the grocery store you either get the bulk imports from China, the bulk imports from China but shipped through another country and labeled at the country, occasionally some garlic from Argentina and if you are really lucky during a week or two in the summer you will see some Ontario Garlic. Garlic from China is fine but because it’s not “fresh” I have to use 3 or so cloves for my recipes instead of just 1 when using Ontario Garlic (oh, who am I kidding I will still use 3 cloves of Ontario Garlic just because I love the stuff so much!)

Why is Ontario Garlic so much better than the bulk imports from China? First off they are generally larger and they just seem to have so much more flavor! I personally hit the Garlicfest each year, buy a bunch of different type and they plant some of each in the fall so I have my own Garlic and Garlic Scapes come the next summer (Garlic Scapes are the top flowering piece that you cut off before they flower, generally in mid to late June). The Scapes are loaded with Garlicy flavor and can either be chopped up and used fresh or pickled and eaten at a later date.

So anyway at the Stratford Garlic festival this year we were there early enough to take in one of the cooking demonstrations. I have the pleasure of meeting Chef D, Darryl Fletcher, who made the most amazing chocolate, cream and garlic sauce just out of those three ingredients. 

After the demonstration we wondered around and tried some different Garlic Sauces, Pickled Garlic Scapes, Dill and Garlic flavored cheese and Garlic popcorn. Everything was really good. The only problem with Ontario Garlic is the cost. You are generally going to pay anywhere from $1 on the low side to $3 on the high side, per bulb of garlic.  They also sell by the braid for anywhere from $15 – 30 depending on the size. I got lucky this time and stumbled into “Golden Acres Farm’” who were selling but the pound. I ended up getting 6 blubs for 8 dollars which is a really good price. Here is a picture of the different type I bought. I haven’t had a chance to type them all yet but I’m looking forward to it!

I posted this photo on Facebook and the first one to comment was my sister who said "They spelt Garlic wrong!" haha, she's a funny one ;)