Garlic is one of the oldest known food flavoring and seasoning plant that managed to infuse itself into culinary tradition of many civilizations across the world. It started its journey in central Asia, domesticated during Neolithic times, spread to the Middle East and northern Africa in 3000 BC, which quickly enabled it to reach Europe. By offering its unique nutritional value and wide array of medicinal benefits, this plant was quickly identified as one of the most precious gifts of our nature, which was expanded with selective breeding into wide array of popular garlic types that are currently used all over the world.

The incredible journey of garlic through our history touched every major civilization of the ancient world, but its true origins lie in West and Central Asia. There, wild plant called Allium longicuspis evolved for millennia, eventually shaping itself into the form of the modern Allium sativum, or garlic. This plant was identified by the ancient Indians who managed to domesticate it around 6 thousand years ago, incorporating its taste and medicinal properties (especially belief in its aphrodisiac powers) in their famous culture. Around 3000 BC, trading parties from India reached Middle East, where they introduced garlic to the mighty Babylonian and Assyrian empires, who embraced this plant and spread it across neighboring civilizations. The most notable records from those ancient times come from Egypt, where garlic was used regularly by both nobles, common people and slaves as food seasoning, medicinal ingredient, religious ingredient (they believed it can prolong life), antiseptic for curing wounds and preventing gangrene, and even as a direct source of strength. Judging by the records found by archeologist and historians, Egyptian royals fed garlic to slaves who build famous pyramids in an attempt to give them more strength. Inside of the tomb of the famous pharaoh Tutankhamen, garlic was not only placed in various clay pots, but also, several of them were modeled in the shape of garlic bulbs.