An interesting and unfamiliar plant is elephant garlic. What is the difference from the usual onions and garlic, composition features, useful properties and harm from consumption. Rocumball recipes, interesting facts about garden culture. You can also mention biologically active compounds: allylcysteine, sitosterol, salicin, geraniol, stigmasterol, germanium, linalool, phloroglucinol, kaempferol.
With the help of elephant garlic, you can protect yourself from viral diseases during the epidemic season, replenish the body with necessary nutrients and improve the taste of dishes.
Health Benefits of Elephant Garlic
The benefits of rocumball are preserved with the use of the pulp and arrows of the vegetable.
Action on the body:
- Normalizes blood flow, dilating blood vessels and thinning blood, reduces the possibility of blood clots;
- Dissolves already deposited cholesterol plaques and prevents the formation of new ones;
- Increases the elasticity of the walls of blood vessels and heart valves;
- Reduces the possibility of platelet clumping;
- Has a pronounced antimicrobial effect, inhibits the vital activity of viruses, bacteria and some types of fungi;
- Accelerates the rehabilitation period after infectious diseases and prevents the development of complications;
- Normalizes nasal breathing;
- Has an antitoxic effect, accelerates the cleansing of the liver and intestines from toxins;
- Stimulates the production of bile and digestive enzymes;
- Accelerates intestinal motility, has a mild laxative effect;
- Increases appetite, eliminates vitamin deficiency;
- Possesses antiparasitic activity, is used to treat helminthic invasions;
- Scientifically proven antitumor effect;
- Improves impulse and nerve conduction;
- Reduces blood pressure and helps you fall asleep faster.
The anesthetic effect of rockumbol is so pronounced that in case of toothache, it is enough to attach the cut clove to the gum opposite the sore spot to calmly fall asleep.
In folk medicine, elephant garlic is actively used for diseases of the spleen, for the treatment of paralysis of the muscles of the face and tremors of the extremities, for the elimination of colitis and enterocolitis.
Harm and contraindications to the use of rockambol
One of the negative properties of rockumbol is the phytic acid content. It disrupts the absorption of minerals - phosphorus, magnesium and zinc, which negatively affects the state of bone tissue. Overuse of elephant garlic can negatively affect the quality of your teeth.
There are contraindications to the use of elephant garlic that limit its use:
- Gallstone and kidney stone disease. You can provoke the movement of stones.
- Peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum at the stage of exacerbation, erosive gastritis. The irritation of the mucous membrane increases.
- Acute kidney disease - pyelonephritis, cystitis, glomerulonephritis. The condition is getting worse.
- Internal bleeding, so as not to provoke an increase.
Elephant garlic should be used with caution:
- With menstruation, the cycle duration and blood loss will increase;
- Pregnant women, so as not to tone the uterus;
- During lactation - milk begins to taste bitter when using rockambol;
- Children up to 2-3 years old.
The children's stomach is not physiologically prepared for "spicy" tastes. The vegetable is introduced into the diet gradually, first rubbing a crust of bread with it, and only then raw.
The following symptoms indicate an allergic reaction and intoxication: painful intestinal spasms, redness of the mucous membrane of the lips and mouth, heartburn. May appear: headache, urticaria, impaired vision quality - a veil in front of the eyes. In severe cases, a heart spasm occurs.
Elephant Garlic Recipes
Despite the fact that rocumbole belongs to the Onion family and tastes like garlic when raw, when added to a hot dish, it gives it a nutty flavor. It is impossible to describe what the dish will look like, it must be tried.
Rocumball Elephant Garlic Recipes:
- Paste … The upper coarse husk is removed from the slices and the inner soft white shells are left. Spread the cloves on foil, sprinkle with salt, ground black pepper, thyme sprigs, sprinkle generously with olive oil. Wrap the foil tightly and put the bundles in the oven to bake. It is enough to preheat the oven to a temperature of 160-180 ° C. When the garlic becomes soft (it takes about an hour), unfold the foil, allow the slices to cool, and then squeeze the pulp out of the scales. To prepare the pasta, add 1 tablespoon of garlic pulp, honey, 1, 5 tablespoons of rice vinegar and 4 tablespoons of olive oil to the blender bowl. The paste is salted and pepper to taste. Served with meat and fish dishes, mixed with pasta.
- Harvesting rockambol for the winter … The simplest way: peeled large teeth from 10 heads are cut lengthwise into 2 parts. Chili pepper, 2 pods, peeled from seeds and white partitions, cut into 2 pieces lengthwise. Vegetables are laid out in sterilized one and a half liter jars so that all have the same amount of garlic and pepper. Pour boiling water over the jars, cover with lids, let stand for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, the water is drained, and the jars are again covered with lids. A marinade is cooked from 1 liter of pure water, pouring a tablespoon of salt and sugar into boiling water, 10 peas of black peppercorns and 4 peas of allspice. Just before turning off the marinade, 1 tablespoon of strong vinegar is poured into it, at least 9%. In each jar of garlic, 1, 5 bay leaves are put, boiling marinade is poured and the lids are rolled up. If white rockumbol is "boring", then use a different recipe. The amount of garlic and water is the same. Before you put the chopped prongs in the jars, pour a few "straws" of fresh beets and pepper, sweet peas, 2 pieces for each jar on the bottom. You do not need to pour boiling water over the jars; they immediately begin to cook the marinade. Salt and sugar are used for it, 50 g each. Before turning off the container with the marinade, 100 ml of 6% apple cider vinegar are poured into the pan. Jars of pink garlic are sterilized for 10 minutes before rolling.
- Chicken with rocumball … The cut carcass is cut into portions. Mix the chopped peeled rocambol, 600 g, a bunch of thyme and sage (you can take fresh herbs or dried ones), add some salt, pepper. The meat is immersed in this mixture and removed in a closed container for a day in the refrigerator to marinate well. After pickling, each piece is fried in sunflower oil until golden brown, transferred to a saucepan, the marinade is poured, water, a little sesame oil and an almost full glass of port or sherry are added. Stew the chicken over very low heat for about an hour. It is convenient to use a multicooker to prepare this dish.
- Bread with rocumball … In a blender, grind several varieties of cheese in the same amount: cheddar, mozzarella, parmesan, add 2 tablespoons of melted butter, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, half a glass of homemade mayonnaise, in the manufacture of which olive oil was used. Baked garlic (the recipe is described above) is added in an amount of 1-1, 5 tablespoons. Bring the mixture to full homogeneity, add salt, if necessary, add pepper. It is advisable to use only ground green pepper or red, black will destroy the nutty taste. A table loaf is cut into thin slices, each is coated with pasta on both sides and put in the microwave or on a baking sheet, which is then put into the oven. The dish is considered ready when a golden brown crust appears on the bread. In the microwave, slices of bread are crunchier and more appetizing, but slices from the oven can be reheated.
- Fresh salad … Cut 2 tomatoes without removing the skin, 2 cucumbers, peeling the skin, 1 yellow bell pepper, rockamboll arrows, dill and parsley. Regular slicing. All ingredients are mixed. The dressing is prepared in a separate bowl: 1 tablespoon each of Dijon mustard and pumpkin seed oil, add some salt. Season the salad, and you can taste it right away.
Traditional salads with garlic acquire an interesting taste: cheese, beetroot, carrot. In order not to lose the nutty flavor, unusual for an ordinary root vegetable, it is advisable to season salads not with the usual mayonnaise, but with light unsweetened yogurt or sour cream.
Interesting facts about rockambol
For the first time a vegetable was grown in Spain. The locals liked the mild taste and began to replace onions or garlic in salads for which Mediterranean cuisine is famous. At first, it was eaten only raw, and only then they began to use it for adding to the hot and harvested for future use.
Until now, biologists are at a loss where to assign a vegetable that combines the taste of garlic and onion, although preference is given to the Lukovs. Since the variety was cultivated in the Middle Ages, it was not possible to determine exactly which plant species were taken as a basis. Indeed, in appearance, Rocumball resembles garlic with arrows, and the conditions that must be provided correspond to the cultivation of leeks.
The variety was brought to the countries of Central Asia in the 17th century. At first, they began to widely cultivate it, and then again returned to the usual onions and garlic. And now rockambol is found more in the wild. In limited areas, the crop is grown in China, Korea and Thailand.
The variety was brought to Russia only at the end of the twentieth century. Gardeners appreciated the taste of the product, and biologists gave it a name - hairstyle. Rockambol has not gained popularity, as in the countries of Central Asia, and it is grown in limited quantities.
This is explained by the need to create special conditions - elephant garlic is very capricious:
- It is necessary to cut off the inflorescences so that the formation of tubers begins.
- As soon as the leaves begin to turn slightly yellow, the tubers must be immediately dug out, otherwise the heads begin to rot.
- Too wet season - the crop will kill the fungus, dry - tubers are not formed.
Watch a video about elephant garlic:
If there is an opportunity to create suitable conditions, it is worth planting a rockambol. This is a tasty and healthy plant.
