Barbara Garrison of Bethlehem’s Heavenly Hedgehog Ice Cream Company proves it is possible to be both garlicky and cool. She sold out 1,000 cups of garlic-flavored ice cream, which is normally sold as a Halloween favorite called “Dracula’s Curse.”

Carl Andrew of the Pocono Garlic Growers Association notes, “Six years ago, Rodale Institute had a taste test and we beat everyone in the country.”

Carl Milenkowic of Knobveiw Farm offers purple Peruvian potatoes roasted in olive oil, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper, and of cause, garlic.

I’m a garlic addict and there’s no better place to have delicious garlic in every shape and form. Shirt, “The garlic made me do it.” My excuse for everything.”

Dressed as a snake-oil purveyor, Uke Jackson was extolling the virtues of garlic vinegar saying, “It is made with organic garlic, a pound of organic garlic goes into every gallon of vinegar and stays in until it permeates the vinegar with all the healthful properties of garlic.”

At the Pocono Garlic Festival,
Garlic is King.

Stroudsburg

Over 15,000 garlic lovers amassed in Stroudsburg on Saturday to celebrate the herb that people love and deer hate. And celebrate they did with foods from garlicky bruschetta to garlic ice cream called Dracula’s Curse.

With garlic as king, festivalgoers ate until the vendors ran out of food as they wandered amongst local crafters and were entertained by local, and sometimes garlic-themed bands.

The most fragrant among these was the Garlic Eating Tuba Troubadours—thirteen musicians who chew raw garlic before playing sweet music like the “Garlic Festival March,” on their horns. Festival coordinator, Kristina Anzini said, “The next day, the square still smells like garlic.”

Anzini is the Executive Director of the Jacob Stroud Corporation - a non-profit appointed by the borough of Stroudsburg to spearhead downtown development. Five years ago, she helped move the fledgling Garlic Festival to the Courthouse Square center of historic Stroudsburg.

Garlic growing came to the Pocono about twenty years ago because it grew well in the sandy loam soil south of Stroudsburg and was a plant that was not browsed by deer. So much so that garlic has become one of the ingredients of deer repellent.

While it kept away the deer, it quickly attracted a local following as the garden grown organic garlic harvests quickly sold out. According to Carl Andrew of the Pocono Garlic Growers Association, “Six years ago, Rodale Institute had a taste test and we beat everyone in the country.”

Andrews is one of six growers that supply garlic to the participating restaurants as well as sell directly to the public. During the rest of the season, their garlic is sold at a downtown farmer’s market. This is where the original idea for the Garlic Festival blossomed twelve years ago. As it grew, it expanded to the Stroudsburg High School grounds before finding a home at Courthouse Square.

At the Festival, Andrew’s booth features garlic pierogies. Reluctantly, he shared his recipe. “It’s in the sauce,” Andrew said. “I invented for the festival seven years ago. The recipe uses garlic, onion, butter and salt.”

Fellow garlic grower, Carl Milenkowic of Knobveiw Farm learned to grow garlic while helping a friend at his organic farm. He started his own garlic farming five years ago. Purple Peruvian potatoes are another of Milenkowic’s specialties.

He picks them pebble sized or finger length and roasts them foil wrapped in a 350° oven with olive oil, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper, and of cause, garlic.

Just when I was getting thirsty from all this garlicky food, my wife came by with a paper cup offering a drink. Drinking it quickly, my eyes grew about three times larger as I suddenly realized she had given me a sample cup of garlic vinegar. Amazingly good but definitely not thirst quenching and sending me in a beeline for the bottled water.

But it is possible to be both garlicky and cool. Just visit the Heavenly Hedgehog Ice Cream Company stand where Barbara Garrison sold out 1,000 cups of garlic flavored ice cream. Sold in her Bethlehem shop as “Dracula’s Curse,” this Halloween favorite was quite good buttery smooth with a hint of roasted garlic.

“I kept thinking, how am I going to get rid of a thousand cups of garlic flavored ice cream?” said Garrison toward the end of the festival. “ Now I’m worried that I’m going to run out before the festival is over.”

Uke Jackson, dressed as a snake-oil purveyor was extolling the virtues of garlic vinegar saying, “It is made with organic garlic, a pound of organic garlic goes into every gallon of vinegar and stays in until it permeates the vinegar with all the healthful properties of garlic.”

Garlic is considered to have a broad range of health benefits, documented in many research papers but not yet canonized by expensive medical double-blind studies. The benefits include lowering cholesterol, lowering blood pressure, reducing infection, reducing stomach cancer, and perhaps even reducing impotence.

Garlic surely deserves a festival. What else tastes so good and is good for you?