Ya gotta admit that everything's cooler in black - and often more expensive, especially in the food industry. Truffles. Squid ink pasta. Black chicken. Oh yeah, that black chicken - still not sure how I feel about ayam cemani, that is just kinda creepy with it's black feet and black tongue and black meat. But black garlic? Yeah, I can definitely dig that!

Black garlic has fascinated me for a good long while. It's a gourmet delight that has gained popularity in the last few years but it's long been used in Japan, China and other Asian countries. It goes through a fermentation process where it's keep on low heat in the oven for a good long while, going through a malliard reaction which is a chemical interaction between amino acids and reducing sugars which darkens it to almost black. But that's not just why it's uber cool - it's demonstrates significantly much higher biological activity, such as antioxidant properties, than fresh garlic, and we all know how good that is for us!

If you'd like to read the science-ey stuff, here are two articles that might be useful.

Black garlic: A critical review of its production, bioactivity, and applicationhttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1021949816301727
Fermented garlic protects diabetic, obese mice when fed a high-fat diet by antioxidant effects

The other thing that excites me about black garlic is that through the aging process, the amount of fructans decrease. My husband can't eat garlic or onion as he's affected by FODMAPS, but the fermentation process of black garlic might mean that he CAN eat garlic in this form, as well as reaping far more benefits than ordinary white garlic.

Some benefits of black garlic include:

• yeast-fermented black garlic exhibited much better bioactivity against syndromes such as obesity, hyperlipidemia, nephropathy, and hepatopathy¹
• improves gastrointenstinal function ²
• has increased antioxidant effects³
• may have anti-cancer actions ⁴
• Helps lower chlorestrol and may help diabetics

Wait what? I can make it at home?

Ah, there's a whole heap of information in my head that's obsolete, because Internet. Ten years ago, all I knew is that black garlic was buried in the ground in terracotta pots in coals and .. oh I don't know, all I knew it was complicated and I didn't have enough information to make it myself. Faced with a whole heap of garlic that I wasn't going to sow this year because of the man's intolerance, I thought about black garlic and whether that was a nice way to preserve it for me (I also keep cloves in apple cider vinegar, so this lasts me all year too) and maybe plant a lot less this year.

Check this out - it's that simple! Put it in a rice cooker on the keep warm setting and leave for a few weeks. Voila! That's it!

Chefs prefer whole bulbs or monobulbs, but I have purple garlic so purple garlic I will use. If you're Australian, you can purchase some from me from the @homesteaderscoop and you can find my store here, but I'm starting to think there won't be any left now I've found a perfect way to use it!

So off I went to K-Mart and bought a rice cooker for 14 bucks. The man's shed is going to smell like garlic for a few weeks, methinks!! But, considering that black garlic can cost around 10 bucks for a single bulb (as opposed to around $2, or free if you grow it like me), it's a small price to pay.Let you know how it turns out in a few weeks time!

Are you interested in plant medicines? You might find the new contest for @naturalmedicine worth entering - you can find the link here and there's 20 Steem of prizes plus you can win an awesome mug with artwork from @frejafri!