Garlic is a pungent plant bulb used to flavor food in cuisines around the world. The bulb grows underground and splits into sections called cloves, each wrapped in papery white skin. When you peel and crush a clove, it releases a sharp, distinctive smell and taste that transforms ordinary dishes into something memorable.

Garlic appears in kitchens everywhere, from Italian pasta sauces to Chinese stir-fries, from Mexican salsas to Indian curries. Raw garlic tastes sharp and almost spicy, but when you cook it, something magical happens: it becomes sweet, mellow, and rich. A chef might sauté minced garlic in olive oil as the foundation for a sauce, roast whole cloves until they're soft and spreadable, or add it to soups for depth of flavor.

People have valued garlic for thousands of years for both cooking and its supposed health benefits. Ancient Egyptian workers building the pyramids received garlic rations to help keep them strong. Many cultures believed garlic could ward off evil spirits or vampires, which is why vampire stories often mention garlic as protection.

The word garlicky describes food that contains lots of garlic or smells strongly of it. Some people love garlic's bold flavor, while others find it overpowering, but nearly every cuisine uses it somewhere.