It's an ingredient that is key to many cuisines of the world, and has a prominent role in folklore and traditional medical systems- although some people avoid it because of the passions that it is said to arouse. Sheila Dillon explores a bulb which provokes strong feelings - both culinary and otherwise - and is now to be found in most of our kitchens: garlic. The United Kingdom is importing five times the amount of garlic than twenty-five years ago. Some British growers are smelling an opportunity for home-grown bulbs, but how much have we stopped to think about the way we use this enigmatic 'allium'?