Garlic from the glens

A Highland farmer is pioneering production of the tough hardneck variety. Annie Bell is turned on by this juicy bulb

Garlic from north of the border sounds as unlikely as Scottish figs, olives or avocados. This pungent allium seems inextricably linked to the Mediterranean and beyond – in fact, to the food of just about every other country in the world except Scotland.

So is this the venture of a farmer determined to test the laws of nature? If so, it is a gamble that appears to be paying off. Glen Allingham, who farms 160 acres 15 miles east of Inverness, in the shadow of the Cawdor Hills, has year on year increased his yield of garlic, turning over land formerly given to producing potatoes.

When Allingham took over from his father a few years ago, Craggie Farm grew 26 varieties of potato. He and his wife Gilli, a cook by profession, wanted to try something different. Initial garlic-growing trials proved disappointing but they did not give up on the idea of garlic altogether. Research on the internet introduced them to a variety of winter hardy garlic called 'Music', of the 'Porcelain Hardneck' type which is grown in Canada. They managed to get hold of some seed, and a visit to the Ontario region convinced them this was the garlic for them. The third of an acre they planted three years ago has expanded this year to five acres, with plans to expand to double or triple the acreage next year.

The warm-weather garlic that we know and love is most commonly what is known as softneck (Allium sativum sativum), and it grows best in hot, dry places. The Canadians, however, have for some years been championing hardneck garlic (Allium sativum ophioscorodon), a much fussier crop to grow but well-suited to their climate. The difference lies in perishability; hardneck is lifted around July and good until Christmas if it has been dried, while softneck survives much longer. In Canada and the US, hardneck garlic is grown and marketed as a distinct variety.

Allingham explains the garlic spectrum: at one extreme is wild garlic, a plant that's all flowers and no bulb, and at the other is softneck with no flowers and a large bulb. Hardneck comes between the two. In order to make it "bulb", its coiled scapes or flowering shoots must be removed six weeks before harvesting, otherwise the plant puts all its energy into flowering. These scapes actually provide a secondary crop, tender and tasting only mildly of garlic. They are considered a great delicacy the other side of the Atlantic, where they have always been enlightened when it comes to eating young shoots such as pea, bean shoots, and fiddlehead ferns.

In October the Allinghams plant cloves in light, sandy soil. They are still trying to develop a way of planting mechanically, and have customised an old potato planter. In spring the crop is fertilised, and needs weeding. In May or June the scape appears and is nipped off, and in July the garlic is ready for harvesting.

Fresh, or green, is when garlic is at its finest, the point at which it is most balanced in flavour. "When you first taste it you get the sweetness, and then the pungency or pepperiness," Allingham explains. In old garlic, pungency has all but taken over, becoming ever more aggressive and dominant until there is no sweetness and even a residual bitterness once the cloves are run through with a green shoot. Even though they market themselves as the Reallygarlicky Company, I would say the success of this product lies with its balance rather than its strength of flavour. Slowly roasted, the creamy insides of the bulbs have an unforgettably sweet finish.

Fresh garlic reaches the Allingham's customers within two or three days of harvesting, either by mail order or through local farmers' markets. It has a shelf life of about a week. The rest of the harvest goes on to be dried, coaxed to a papery finish over a fortnight in an environment that simulates a typical summer day on the Costa Brava. This year's allocation of fresh garlic has sold out and only dried is available, but it has just been harvested and isn't so different from the fresh – it just keeps better.

But even when it's dried, garlic should be used within a week. Allingham laughs with a hint of despair when asked whether people keep garlic too long. "Yes" is the simple answer. Left sitting around in the vegetable basket in a warm kitchen, the bulb thinks it's time to grow and sprouts.

Perhaps one reason for the popularity of the Allingham's Porcelain garlic is its size. As big as a clementine it contains around five large, juicy cloves, whereas the weedy specimens we are used to buying in supermarkets consist of up to 20 cloves and are fiddly and tedious to peel.

Allingham can't think why there aren't more growers in the UK. As it's closely related to the onion, his garlic is susceptible to the same blights and diseases and can't be used in rotation. But it can't be long before this pioneering grower is joined by others.

For mail order, call 01667 452193 or visit www.reallygarlicky.co.uk