Lautrec Pink Garlic String
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Ail Rose de Lautrec — pink garlic from the commune of Lautrec in the Tarn department of south-west France, sold as a traditional plaited string. This garlic holds both Label Rouge certification (awarded in 1966, making it one of the earliest Label Rouge products of any kind) and IGP (Indication Géographique Protégée) status, granted in 1996. The IGP restricts production to a defined area around Lautrec where the combination of clay-limestone soil, altitude, and the warm, dry climate of the Tarn creates specific growing conditions that cannot be replicated elsewhere.
The pink colour is in the clove skins, not the flesh — peel a clove and the interior is the same pale cream as any garlic. The pigmentation comes from anthocyanins in the inner wrappers, and it is a varietal characteristic rather than a product of the terroir, though the Lautrec growers would argue the two are inseparable after centuries of selection. The flavour is milder and sweeter than most white garlic, with less of the aggressive raw heat. The allicin content — the compound responsible for garlic's pungency — is lower than in harder-necked varieties, which makes Lautrec pink garlic more versatile raw and less likely to dominate a dish when cooked.
The string format is not decorative. Plaiting the garlic by the dried stems is the traditional Lautrec method of curing and storing, allowing air to circulate around each bulb. Hung in a cool, dry place, a string of Lautrec pink garlic will keep for months — significantly longer than loose bulbs stored in a bowl or bag. Snap bulbs off from the bottom of the string as you need them.
This is a softneck garlic, which means the cloves are arranged in multiple overlapping layers around the centre rather than in a single ring. Softneck varieties peel slightly less cleanly than hardneck types but store considerably longer, which is part of why they are suited to the string format.
Origin: Lautrec, Tarn, France
Ingredients: Pink garlic (Allium sativum).