Critics’ pick

Photograph: Chrissy Lush

Ail aboard When cold season approaches, folk wisdom prevails: Wash your hands, get plenty of sleep and eat extra garlic. Exoticize your preventive care with two dolled-up bulbs from France: the ail rose de Lautrec (pink garlic from the south) and ail fumé d’Arleux (smoked garlic from the north). They’ll make your allium intake (and your kitchen—these double as excellent decorative items) a little more colorful. The ail rose comes in bundles called manouilles, and all but one of the bulbs is partially peeled, exposing variegated pink cloves. Producers say it’s milder than other garlic, but don’t be misled: Ail by any other name would smell just as sweet. The smoked garlic, however, is truly distinct. Smoking is an ancient technique used to extend garlic’s shelf life in the damp climate of northern France. The pink garlic is plaited and smoked for eight days over peat-and-corn silk fires. The outer skin retains most of the smokiness, so once peeled, the cloves have a delicate flavor, perfect for adding a hint of wood to any recipe. Another piece of age-old advice: Follow up your garlic intake with some chewing gum. Fumé is available at Whole Foods Union Square (40 E 14th St between Broadway and University Pl, 212-673-5388) for $14.99 per bunch; ail rose at Agata & Valentina (1505 First Ave at 79th St, 212-452-0690) for $11.99 per bunch.

—Daniel Gritzer

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