i just found out there are 2 different garlic that are both named korean red! my kr has good garlic flavor but is not extremely hot but it is not mild imo.
so one kr is an asiatic variety here's the picture
http://www.gourmetgarlicgardens.com/images/csativum.jpg
the other "korean red" is also called "korean red hot" but it is a rocambole variety here's the picture
http://www.gourmetgarlicgardens.com/images/rocky.jpg
the asiatic picture is not a good one compared to the rocambole so i am wondering if there is any other description i can go by to id my korean red? if you read the description of both they sound pretty much the same.
description of the asiatic:
Harvests VERY early in season - stores about 5-6 months.
Asiatic garlics typically have six to eight cloves per bulb in a circular configuration around a central scape. They're generally large bulbs with fat cloves. The bulb wrappers are firm, tight and vivid with broad, bold purple stripes merging into areas of solid purple. A very strongly colored garlic. The clove covers are silky and a lovely golden tan with a rosy aura and tiny pink veins. It is one of the very first cultivars planted in the fall and the first harvested in the spring around here. The taste puts it in a class almost by itself.
When you first bite into a clove there is a beautiful pure garlic flavor that is utterly devoid of heat, so you begin to settle back and enjoy the marvelous flavor while waiting for the hotness to sear your mouth any second but it never comes. And after a minute or so, the rich garlickiness is replaced with a smooth warm aftertaste that just makes you feel good.
If you are looking for an early season garlic that harvests before any of the others and is great for raw eating and stores about six months from harvest at room temp., this one is for you.
description of the rocambole:
Korean Red is a generally a vigorous grower with large foliage that is dark green and results in a pretty good sized bulb. Being a Rocambole garlic, its flavor is very strong, hot and spicy and sticks around for a long time. From a growers perspective, it grows well in cold winter areas, but does poorly in warm winter areas, and usually grows healthy fairly uniform sized bulbs. It has thin bulb wrappers that have a lot of purple and brown in them.
I have a hard time deciding which hot garlic should be ranked where, but Korean Red Hot is certainly up there and I will just have to continue eating as many different ones as I can in an effort to improve. When I die, don't bother to bury me, just plant in the fall and water me, I'll probably sprout and grow.
Korean Red Hot usually has anywhere from 8 or 9 easy to peel cloves that are of good size, with no smaller inner cloves. The outer bulb wrappers are thin and flake off easily so it is not a very good storer, but no Rocambole is - through the fall and into winter. Great taste is their claim to fame, not long storage. For those up North who want to grow their own garlic it only takes a year or two to grow all you can eat. It harvests in early summer along with most of the other Rocamboles. Bulbs are usually over 2 1/2 inches in diameter and are of good size are grown primarily for their particularly rich flavor.
any sites where i can id mine more thoroughly? based upon the picture i think i have the rocambole variety but i'd like to be sure cuz that's just how i am!
thanks,
tom