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Hello, this is 6 Minute English
from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.
And I'm Beth.
It smells delicious sizzling in oil and
it's great for keeping vampires away,
but don't eat it on a first date!
I'm talking, of course, about garlic.
Neil, do you like garlic?
Oh yes, I love garlic.
I had a very garlicky meal
last night.
Mmm, I know – I can smell it
from here!
Here is Jason Chan, an Australian chef
who specialises in Asian cuisine,
and Poul Erik Jensen,
a Danish chef living in France,
talking about their love of garlic
to BBC World Service programme,
The Food Chain:
I love garlic because
it's a versatile ingredient
that can be used for cooking
and offers various health benefits.
We use it a lot and so, from stocks
to soups – and in vegetable dishes,
meat dishes – there's very certain
a clove of garlic in somewhere.
Yeah, it's unimaginable not using garlic.
Jason loves garlic
because it's versatile, meaning it
can be used in many different ways.
And Poul thinks cooking
without garlic is unimaginable,
meaning it's difficult to imagine
because it would be so bad.
Love garlic or hate it,
in this episode we'll be finding out more about
this versatile, strong-smelling food.
And, as usual, we'll be learning some
useful new words and phrases as well.
And remember – you can find
all the vocabulary from this episode
on our website,
bbclearningenglish.com.
Now, Beth, I have a question for you.
It's a little known fact that
of the 600 varieties of garlic, many
grew only in the former Soviet Union
and were unavailable in the West until
the fall of communism in the 1990s.
So, which of the following varieties
of garlic grew in the former USSR?
Is it a) rocambole, b) fire,
or c) riesig?
Oh, I have no idea.
I'm going to guess fire.
OK. We'll find out if you're right
at the end of the programme.
Garlic is much more
than just a cooking ingredient.
For centuries, garlic was an important
food throughout ancient Egypt, Greece,
and Rome, as well as India and China.
It was the Roman Empire
that brought garlic
to European countries
like France.
And everywhere garlic grew, it was
praised for its health-giving powers.
Here, BBC presenter
Rumella Dasgupta asks author
and garlic expert Robin Cherry
about garlic's medicinal uses,
on BBC World Service's
The Food Chain:
And what kind of illnesses or conditions
would they have treated, for instance?
Everything from cancer, scurvy,
the plague, respiratory ailments...
it was used as an aphrodisiac.
Garlic was used to treat
respiratory ailments.
An ailment is another word for
an illness or minor health problem,
so a respiratory ailment is
an illness of the lungs.
In Ancient Greece,
garlic was also used
as an aphrodisiac – a food or drink
believed to increase sexual desire.
But interestingly,
this was the same reason
why some cultures avoided
eating garlic altogether,
including a religious group
from India called Jains.
Yes, Jainism is an ancient Indian
religion, like Hinduism and Buddhism,
based on the idea of ahimsa,
or non-violence.
But unlike many Hindus and Buddhists,
Jains' definition of non-violence
includes plants and vegetables.
Jains don't eat garlic because
uprooting the plant kills both it
and the soil ecosystem it grows in.
Here's Sonal Ved, a Mumbai-based
cooking-show host and author
of many books on Indian cuisine,
explaining another reason
why Jains avoid garlic
to BBC World Service programme,
The Food Chain:
According to Hinduism also,
garlic is considered a food
which is called a tamasic food.
It is believed to stimulate desire,
passion, aggression.
And that's why they abstain
from eating those kinds of food –
because it is believed to impact
your spiritual growth
and also your mental clarity.
Jains abstain from eating garlic.
If you abstain from doing something,
you choose not to do it.
For example, you might abstain from
tobacco or alcohol because you know
they're bad for your health.
Like the Ancient Greeks, Jains believe
that garlic stimulates sexual desire.
The verb to stimulate means encourage
it or cause it to develop and grow.
Modern medicine has confirmed some
of these ancient beliefs
about the health benefits of garlic,
including reduced blood pressure
and better gut health.
OK Neil, isn't it time you revealed
the answer to your question?
Yes, Beth. I asked you which variety
of garlic grew in the former USSR.
And I said fire.
Was I right?
You were absolutely correct.
Yay!
Fire or Georgian fire is
a hot, white garlic
from the Republic of Georgia
in the former Soviet Union.
OK, let's recap the vocabulary we've
learned starting with 'versatile',
an adjective meaning to have
many different purposes or uses.
The phrase, 'it's unimaginable',
is used to say that
something is difficult to imagine
because it would be so good
or so bad.
An ailment is
an illness or health problem.
An aphrodisiac is a food or drink
believed to increase sexual desire.
If you abstain from something,
you choose not to do it.
And finally, 'to stimulate' means to
encourage something or cause it to grow.
Once again, our six minutes are up.
If you've enjoyed this episode,
then head over to our website,
bbclearningenglish.com,
where you'll find a quiz
and worksheet to practise
the vocabulary you've learnt.
See you again soon.
But for now, it's goodbye.
Goodbye!
Vocabulary
Word 1 of 12garlicky meal
collocation
0:28
"a meal with a strong taste or smell of garlic."
More Listening Practice
About this lesson
Practice English with this discussion about garlic and its health benefits.