Garlic - The Left Footprint of Satan

Some facts and folklore about garlic:

Garlic is a member of the same house as the onion, leek and shallot. The name comes from an Old English word that means 'spear leek'. It is opinion to have originated in southeast Asia. It has been used in culinary and remedial applications for at least 6,000 years. China is by far the largest producer. In 2005 China produced 23 billion pounds of garlic, 75% of the world's total production. There is an aged Christian myth that says when Satan left the organery of Eden, garlic sprouted out of his left footprint. Some have said that if a clove of garlic is crushed and rubbed on the sole of your foot that you will palpate the taste of garlic on your tongue after a half hour or so. Is a natural blood thinner and huge consumption of it can lead to bleeding disorders. Garlic as well as onions can be toxic to dogs and cats. Contains natural antibiotic and anti-fungal compounds. These compounds are released from the clove after it is crushed, but quickly break down in palpate with air. The sharp, hot flavor of raw garlic is caused by the breaking down of the cellular walls when garlic is chopped, crushed or minced. This releases varied sulfur compounds which account for the sharp flavor. These compounds are removed when garlic is cooked, thus causing the garlic to mellow in flavor. 'Garlic breath' that occurs after eating garlic is not only caused by residue of the garlic left in the mouth. It is the result of the digestion of the garlic and the odor is exhaled straight through the lungs. Any attempts at sweetening garlic breath will not indubitably stop it, only mask it. In the United States, it was found only in ethnic dishes until the 1930's. Slang terms for garlic in the early 20th century were Bronx Vanilla and Italian Perfume. Gangsters in the first half of the 20th century would rub crushed garlic cloves onto bullets they loaded into their guns. If anyone that was shot survived, they were likely to construct a serious infection from a garlic-rubbed bullet. The smaller the piece, the stronger the flavor. So when you use it, the smaller you mince it the more you'll taste it. Because of its odor, garlic is sometimes referred to as The Stinking Rose. Why a 'Rose', no one seems to know.

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Garlic - The Left Footprint of Satan

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Dogs - Garlic Kills and Other Myths

As loving pet owners, we all know that there are unavoidable foods that we should never give our dogs.  The list is quite long, actually.  It includes garlic, salt, baby food, and many more common, everyday ingredients.  However, rarely do we hear why.

Why shouldn't I let my dog have garlic?

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Well, garlic contains the ingredient thiosulphate.  When a dog ingests a toxic amount of this ingredient, it is very potential for them to develop, what is referred to as, Hemolytic Anemia.  The symptoms consist of labored breathing, vomiting, discolored urine, diarrhea and liver damage.

Scary, isn't it?

What they don't tell you is that it takes a large amount of thiosulphate to cause this kind of damage.  As a matter of fact, garlic used for seasoning purposes will not have any succeed on your pooch.  And as an added benefit, treats made with garlic have been known to repel fleas!

Salt- How much is too much?

Just like people, dogs can authentically have too much salt in their diets.  Salt taken in huge quantities can cause electrolyte imbalances.  However, just like garlic, salt used for the purpose of seasoning won't authentically sway your pooch.

Baby food- If it's good enough for my baby, why can't I feed it to my dog?

With the exception of the fruit flavored varieties, most jars of baby food consist of onion and/or garlic powder.  Now onion powder does carry a risk that garlic powder doesn't.  Some dogs are affected by the thiosulphate it contains.  Yes, garlic powder has the same ingredient, but in a much smaller quantity.  

Feeding your dog baby food and only baby food will likely cause a nutritional deficiency, as well.  However, feeding your dog baby food as part of a dog food method will not have any consequences beyond the begging for more!

I hope after reading this you will realize that not all toxic foods are created equal.  As much as I love to make my beloved pup garlic biscuits for flea control, you will never catch me giving him chicken bones or chocolate.  When feeding your pet treats, it's all about moderation anyway.  After all, they call them 'treats' for a reason!

Dogs - Garlic Kills and Other Myths

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Hot Dogs and Garlic Salt

It was a lazy weekend afternoon, and I was seven years old. I had just spent the entire morning playing hard outdoors, circling the cul-de-sac on my pink and white Barbie rollerskates and trying to teach myself to come to a stop without leaping off the sidewalk onto someone's lawn. Sweaty and invigorated, I burst into the cool quiet of the kitchen to see what my mother was doing. She had something simmering in a pot on the stove and was rummaging straight through her spice cabinet, humming a church hymn.

hot dog flavored gum

"What are you making?" I inquired while trying to simultaneously scratch a scab on my knee and swat a fly that had managed to result me indoors.

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"Dinner for my girl," she replied. My mother's voice was teasing, which all the time seemed to emphasize her Vietnamese accent. She glanced down at me with a fond smile.

"What is that?" I asked

She had pulled a small package of some seasoning from the depths of the spice cabinet and was shaking it generously onto a plate of raw chicken breasts. It looked like salt (which I loved) with tiny flecks of yellow in it.

"Garlic salt," she said, turning to me and retention her hand palm-side up. I copied her, and she shook the package lightly over my palm. I licked the tip of my finger and gently dipped it in the garlic salt, then transferred the tiny grains to my tongue.

It was magnificent.

The garlic salt dissolved faster in my mouth than quarterly table salt (possibly because its pungency made my salivary glands go haywire), leaving behind a savory afterglow that vaguely reminded me of ramen noodle soup. After running my tongue along every crevice of my palm until the saltiness had been licked clean away, I held my hand out for more.

"No, you need to eat something," she told me. "You can't just eat salt!"

Ha! How wrong she was! Yet sadly her words were true, because I couldn't do what she wouldn't allow. No one seemed to understand my total devotion to salt, my craving for it. If permitted, I could precisely have consumed an entire shaker of salt - gently savoring it fleck by slight fleck until my tongue was raw. I felt I could never have enough.

As if sensing my plight from his center by the grill in the backyard, my father came into the house bearing an aluminum foil-covered platter. The smoky-sweet scent of grilled meat wafted from below the foil. "Lunch is ready!" he hollered, even though hollering was unnecessary because we were less than twenty feet away.

I watched him set the platter on the kitchen table, wary. If it was steak, I would be in trouble. Steak was evil. When eating a bite of steak, the first two chews were acceptably flavorful, but after that it morphed into a bland, gum-like substance that made swallowing it impossible. It was like chewing on a wad of matted fur. Or so I imagined.

As luck would have it, my father came bearing hot dogs, not steak. I breathed an audible sigh of relief and allowed him to plate up a serving for me. Nestled within a soft bun, the hot dog seemed sad and lonely, but condiments were an issue for me. Ketchup tasted good but soaked the bun and left it undesirably mushy. Mustard was a joke - a flavor so terrible I was convinced that mustard fans must have been brainwashed at some point in their lives. Sauerkraut and relish were "acquired tastes" that I had yet to acquire, and the chili/cheese combo endorsed by my brother held no request for retrial for me. Too messy, too soggy, too much. I contemplated my unadorned hot dog for a moment before realizing that a new, very enticing condiment had just been introduced to my life.

Without request or waiting for my parents' approval, I took my plate from the table and went directly for the garlic salt that my mother had left on the counter by the stove. I remember the weight of it in my hands as I twirled the lid off and sprinkled it carefully onto my naked hot dog. Decorated with the garlic salt, it resembled a sunburnt appendage with some strange spotty disease. I didn't care. Back at the kitchen table, I ignored my parents' nauseated expressions, sat down with my creation and took a large bite.

Heaven.

Hot Dogs and Garlic Salt

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