Ode to a Chinese clove

I have found the Moste Perfecte Allium, and its name is ampeloprasum.

My tilapia turned out lovely and garlicky and balanced and perfect. And I give all the credit to the "solo-knobi" that I bought at the corner grocery store. Single cloves of garlic - not a head, a clove - the size of ping-pong balls. Uniformly shaped, striated a delicate shade of purple, looking for all the word like those big fake crockery cloves of garlic with smiling faces painted on the sides.

They came all the way from China, packed in the most adorable little basket ever. Fifteen perfect little cloned cloves, nestled into each other's curves, awaiting my knife. I reached for them, and one offered itself to my ministrations. It simmered away in soy oil for a good half hour on low heat before I added the mushrooms, which obligingly soaked up their smooth garlicky flavor and in turn made the fish heavenly.

In the aftermath of the heavenliness, however, my sense of smell seems to have disappeared. Is that a common side effect of garlic?

My allium ampeloprasum has many aliases. I like them, and so I shall share them with you:
- Solo-knobi
- Monobulbo agliacea
- Single-bulb garlish (sic)
- 1-Feds Hvidloeg
- Monobulbe Porreau

I love Europe. :-)