By popular request, this month we will take a look at one of the most contradictory ingredients that exist regarding its quality and aphrodisiac quality: common in Spanish cuisine (and even distinctive of it on many occasions), garlic is a plant that has been as praised as it is vilified when it comes to favoring (or blocking) the passions of Venus ... and without all that glitters being gold, it is true that there are many who ponder its qualities in this and in other fields, with greater or less foundation.
Of uncertain origins (probably Asian), very widespread and widespread acceptance (it is consumed in millions of ways in millions of dishes in millions of different places), garlic is a plant to which, to begin with, beneficial properties have always been attributed for health: effective as an antiseptic (so much so that in World War I it was used for that purpose directly on wounds, for lack of anything better), used to treat serious issues such as cancer or depression, and amply proven Its use in the regulation of cholesterol, the intake of this product is even a natural repellent for mosquitoes, since the body is able to assimilate its properties and use them to drive away those unpleasant insects ...
And as for the subject that we always deal with in this section, suffice it to say that garlic figures from its first testimonies as a stimulant of human passions. There are already ancient sources that explain how gladiators were very fond of its consumption, as well as the workers who raised the pyramids of Egypt: all of them were convinced of its invigorating properties, that in addition to helping them work better, they also He lent a hand in other types of more personal questions ... And they were not the only ones: apparently, a people as geographically distant from the Mediterranean as the Ainos (who populated the north of the Japanese islands, and that still survive today in that nation) equated garlic with the nectars and ambrosias on which the Greek gods fed. So it is not surprising that, if people talk about it since ancient times, many men throughout history have been able to taste (and verify) the stimulating virtues of the plant (without going any further, Javier Bardem already said in the film Jamón, Jamón -Bigas Luna, 1992-, who praised its consumption by openly stating that “garlic gives power”), a plant that can be prepared in the most diverse ways and consumed according to one's taste: dipped in oil (with which an excellent flavoring of the product in question is achieved), fried accompanying the meat, boiled with fish, vinegary ... and always, why not, raw, which is of course the most beneficial.
But unfortunately, it is impossible to ignore one of the indisputable peculiarities of garlic, and that is that, as everyone knows, it produces a powerful halitosis if consumed raw and direct ... for what it has always been Its consumption is discouraged when going in search of the pleasures of Eros (mainly to avoid the fainting or repulsion of the person with whom we want to communicate at a short distance). Quite a contradiction, there is no doubt ... but in this case it has a more than simple solution: after the intake in question, just chew a few parsley leaves (or mint, failing that), or suck on a couple of coffee beans for a few moments. That will be enough for the powerful smell of the plant to fade until it disappears, preserving the interesting benefits in our body (which, even if they are only for health, it is undeniable that it has them), and also adding an additional help ... Have not parsley and mint (and also coffee) been considered helpers of Venus?
There are already ancient sources that explain how gladiators were very fond of their consumption, as well as the workers who raised the pyramids of Egypt.
