winkler@harvard.ARPA (Dan Winkler) (11/11/84)
Here is a letter to Ira containing some common garlic questions: I've seen the "Garlic is as good as ten mothers" bandanna put out by the National Rutabaga Company, but I have never understood it. Is Les Blank really a garlic connoisseur, or is there a deeper meaning? What is his film about? Hoping for enlightenment... Ira replies: 1. Les Blank is a Garlic connoisseur. 2. His film documents attitudes toward garlic consumption in the San Francisco and Los Angelos areas. It includes a sequence from the 1979 Gilroy (California) Garlic Festival in which an Andalusian Gypsy talks about garlic keeping him alive during the Spanish civil war. 3. No deeper meaning. The comparison (to mom) is self explanatory. But if you need further elucidation, the following benefits can be had from eating garlic: A. A gustatory high. B. Lowered blood pressure. C. Resistance against certain types of infections (mostly upper respiratory) D. Better digestion. (increased secretion of gastric juices) E. Aphrodisiac benefits. Aromatically, Ira Braus