ALEXANDRE DUMAS For a couple of years I haunted nearby garlic fairs, sitting on hard benches in tents to hear lectures on the history, folklore, and medicinal value of garlic, jotting down growing and harvesting advice, watching cooking and braiding demonstrations, lunching on garlic sausage and garlic burgers, and sampling exotica like garlic fudge. I brought home jars of pickled garlic and garlic chutney and luscious garlic cultivars to eat and plant. But I wanted more. The local fairs I was going to were all starting to look the same. I wanted to go to some really big ones, like the monster three-day bash held in Gilroy, California, at the end of July. I wanted to see what other countries’ festivals had to offer. And I wanted to find a certain pink garlic I’d been reading about, Ail Rose de Lautrec, reputedly a gently pleasing variety with amazing storage qualities and satiny pink skin. To add to the allure of its taste, Lautrec pink garlic has a romantic past.
