A food that has flavoured many dishes across cultures over hundreds ? even thousands ? of years, garlic is a species of onion that's not only strong in taste, but pungent in odour too. So much so that in mythologies past, the pungent smell of garlic was believed to ward off vampires and prevent them from sucking your blood.

And with good reason as garlic contains a chemical called Allyl methyl sulfide (AMS) which directly enters your bloodstream causing its odour to literally permeate from your inside out. Hence the after-effects of a garlic meal can often cause the strategic avoidance of loved ones, colleagues and friends from coming too close to you. In other words, garlic tends to linger in our systems more noticeably than other herbs.

Not to be shunned, garlic's sheer potency is also part of its charm and healing properties. Just as eating garlic or keeping it close to your person was believed to be effective against vampires in mythology, so the consumption of garlic is effective against blood-sucking insects like mosquitos.

And still, the pro's of the garlic plant continue to outweigh that smelly con.

Our previous Health Minister wasn't wrong when she called on garlic as a plant with properties that assist with a balanced digestive system, though she may have been going a bit far with claims that it (along with a list of other vegetables) could replace antiretrovirals for those suffering from HIV/Aids.

Never-the-less, garlic is claimed to reduce high blood pressure and boost our immune systems since it is high in those antioxidants that our bodies require. These antioxiodants also play their part in reducing our risk of developing cancers

It doesn't stop there, did you know that the garlic plant is a powerful antibiotic that helps to stop infection too? That's played in part by its immune-boosting qualities as well as its role as an antiseptic. The famed Dr. Louis Pasteur, who developed the method of pasteurisation we still use to this day for milk, also discovered garlic's good antibacterial activity resulting in its use against gangrene in both World Wars.

Garlic enhances many different dishes, from Italian pastas and pizzas, to assisting in flavouring meat with a most delicious and succulent result. Yet, be careful. Cooking with too much garlic can 'desensitise' your tastebuds to its pungency so that you keep adding more garlic to your meals for the same effect.

Keep your palette sensitive to different tastes by varying the herbs and spices you use. Just as we can become too used to large amounts of salt in food, so we can become used to too much garlic.

Lastly, your garden will benefit from a couple of garlic plants scattered here and there. Not only will you have fresh garlic at hand, you'll also be warding off those garden pests that like to nibble on other plants. Garlic is a great natural insecticide.