Garlic

Garlic is one of the most widely used flavouring ingredients on earth, and for good reason — its sharp, pungent raw bite mellows into a deep, sweet savouriness when cooked. A single bulb, broken into its individual cloves and crushed, sliced, or minced, can transform almost any savoury dish.

In Australian cooking, garlic is essentially non-negotiable. It’s the starting point for countless recipes across every cuisine represented in the country’s multicultural food landscape — from Italian pasta sauces and Greek lamb to Thai stir-fries and Indian curries. Australian-grown garlic, particularly from regions like the Adelaide Hills and northern Tasmania, is highly regarded for its intensity.

Raw garlic is fiery and assertive; roasted whole, it becomes soft, spreadable, and almost sweet. This versatility, combined with its long shelf life, makes it one of the most essential items in any kitchen.

Farmed
photograph to come — from twenty years of markets, farms and kitchens

How it's made

Garlic is grown by planting individual cloves in autumn. Each clove develops into a full bulb underground over several months. When the leaves begin to die back in late spring or summer, the bulbs are dug up, brushed clean of soil, and cured by drying in a warm, ventilated space for several weeks. Curing toughens the outer skin and extends storage life. The dried bulbs are then trimmed, sorted, and sold whole.

Nutrition (per 100g)

Energy 143kcal
Protein 6.6g
Carbs 25.5g
Fat 0.4g
Fibre 2.7g Sugar 0g
Mass Distribution

1 RACC is about 85 g — roughly 120 kcal of this.

What it costs the planet (per kilo)

Carbon ≈0.5kg
Freshwater ≈130L
Land ≈0.4

≈ Estimated — worked out from a category-typical value further up its supply chain. Where this comes from →

Where it comes from

Made from

In the kitchen

Used as

foundational aromatic base

Goes well with
Classic dishes
  • Aglio e Olio
  • Garlic Bread
  • Hummus
  • Roast Chicken

Keeping it

Keep it: in a cool dry place with airflow.

In the freezer: about 30 days (from date of purchase).

In the fridge: 3–14 days (from date of purchase).

In the pantry: about 30 days (from date of purchase).

Advice from Cubud’s own keeping notes — how to keep it, not a measured number.

Keeping one at home? Track yours in your cubud →

Where this data comes from

Nutrition data from

USDA

How it was calculated

Analytical

Full credits, licences, and methods: the sources page →

Where to next

✎ Spotted something wrong? Suggest a correction

Checking who you are...