Elephant Garlic

Elephant Garlic is not a true garlic but a variety of leek, Allium ampeloprasum, grown for its enormous garlic-like bulbs. It produces very large bulbs with a few oversized cloves, each many times the size of true garlic cloves, and a much milder, sweeter flavor. Because it is botanically a leek, its taste is gentle and onion-like rather than sharply pungent, making it popular roasted or used where a subtle garlic note is wanted. It sends up a tall flower stalk and often forms small hard cormels around the base that can be replanted. Elephant Garlic prefers a long growing season and mild climate. Gardeners grow it for novelty and for its mild, versatile bulbs, though it is distinct from ordinary garlic.