Ajo Morado de Las Pedroñeras

Appearance & taste

The garlic bulb is spherical or round, medium-sized and surrounded by a white or only slightly coloured, ribbed outer skin. The skin around the individual cloves is purple or pink and also ribbed. The cloves are small to medium-sized, shaped like a croissant and yellowish-white inside; there are no outer cloves. The garlic is sold dry and loose in the classes Extra and I, with a diameter of the skinned bulb of at least 45 and 41 mm respectively.

The garlic smells strong and tastes sharp. According to the specification it contains a lot of allicin, the substance mainly responsible for smell and taste; when the cloves are cut, the volatile components are released and the smell and taste become more pronounced.

Production

Only healthy cloves of the ecotype are planted, between early December and mid-January. Cultivation takes place on registered plots, mostly with irrigation. The harvest runs from late June to mid-July, in exceptional cases until early August; the yield is usually 9 to 10 t per hectare. A tractor loosens the furrow, then the bulbs are picked up by hand and laid in “sheaf furrows” so that the leaves protect them from the sun. This work starts early in the morning and ends around midday. The plants are tied into sheaves and dried in the sun or in the air, then the roots and leaves are cut off. Machines are used only occasionally, because damage reduces the value of the bulbs.

In approved facilities every batch is checked, sorted and brushed, and loose bits of skin are removed by hand. The garlic may be stored at room temperature until 30 September of the harvest year, after that only in rooms at −2 to −4 °C with controlled humidity. One year after the harvest it may no longer be sold under the name. Every pack bears the emblem, a guarantee seal and a numbered control label.

Origin & history

The area covers 225 places in La Mancha, Mancha, Mancha Alta, Mancha Baja, Manchuela and Centro in the provinces of Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca and Toledo. According to the specification, the ecotype is ideally adapted to the soils of the region and is particularly good at withstanding the unfavourable growing conditions.

In volume XII of his geographical, statistical and historical dictionary of Spain, Pascual Madoz mentions garlic growing and trade in Las Pedroñeras; according to the specification, the population was thus already known for garlic in the mid-19th century. Customs such as the “Concurso de Enristrado”, a competition in tying garlic plaits, as well as festivals, songs and stories have survived to this day. In the region’s home cooking, garlic seasons dishes such as Atascaburras, Caldereta, Moje de Pimientos, Migas and Gachas.