What is a big thing of garlic called?

I can't seem to find the word that refers to this:

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What is a piece of garlic called?
What is a bud of garlic called?

I usually end up saying "bunch of garlic" and have to explain "the garlic bunch before you peel the cloves apart".

What is it called?

RegDwigнt

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asked Dec 16, 2010 at 4:54

This question is already amply answered, but just for those who are more visually-oriented:

A clove of garlic

A head/bulb of garlic

A string of garlic

answered Dec 16, 2010 at 9:21

BenjolBenjol

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A head of garlic is the usual term. Bulb of garlic is also sometimes used, but not usually in a culinary sense.

answered Dec 16, 2010 at 5:14

nohat♦nohat

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Here are some Google NGram graphs showing the relative usages of head vs bulb of garlic:

American

British

Mari-Lou A

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answered Jul 5, 2011 at 14:14

mplungjanmplungjan

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The word you are looking for is bulb. More formally, it is called a "compound bulb" because the cloves themselves are actually bulbs, too. Nevertheless, "bulb" will do just fine. This word is also used in the same context for onions, shallots and other related plants.

answered Dec 16, 2010 at 5:08

Jimi OkeJimi Oke

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Botanically speaking, what is popularly referred to as a head of garlic is actually a corm. Whereas the nutritive tissue is in the leaves in an onion bulb, the leaves of the corm are dry; the nutritive tissue (the part you eat) is in the stem. In fact, both corms and bulbs are underground nutritive stems. The difference lies in the exact location of the nutritive tissue.

answered Dec 24, 2012 at 22:48

Are you talking about a bulb of garlic?

answered Dec 16, 2010 at 5:06

RobustoRobusto

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It is referred to as a loaf of garlic by scholars. 35 year culinary experience. Working exclusively with loaves of garlic.

answered Dec 22, 2013 at 0:03

What is a piece of garlic called?

Each of these lobes is called a clove of garlic. You can break off individual cloves from the stem to cook with them, leaving the rest of the head intact for later use. You might notice that some cloves of garlic are larger and others are smaller.

What is a bud of garlic called?

Garlic scapes are the tender stem and flower bud of a hardneck garlic plant. (Hardneck garlic is the kind of garlic that typically grows in Canada and the northeastern U.S.) Scapes first grow straight out of the garlic bulb, then coil. When harvested, they look like long, curly green beans.