Mad Italians "Ban garlic? That’s a stinking idea"

[Waldo]

It's one of my favourite ingredients, right up there with chilli and ginger!!!

Love it or hate it, plenty of people are passionate enough about garlic to kick up a stink about the bulb.

It has emerged that a high profile campaign to banish it from cuisine had been launched in Italy, with support from celebrities and former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.

At Metro, we're quite fond of the stinky ingredient, and so we sought out the opinion of someone who is qualified to pass judgment on both garlic and Italy.

Italian celebrity chef Aldo Zilli was unequivocal in his support for garlic, and he even whipped up some nosh to prove what a wonderful ingredient it is.

Zilli vowed to fight for the right to serve garlic in his home country, saying: 'Italy has gone absolutely mad. Garlic is the most important ingredient in cooking – it simply cannot happen.

'Garlic is an aphrodisiac. Trust me, it works.'

And the effect of banning garlic in Italy? Zilly added: 'Imagine if you banned turkeys at christmas in Britain.' Enough said.

Mr Berlusconi has demanded that restaurants ban 'stinking garlic' from dishes, and he used his powerful TV channel Canale to launch a protest this week. News editor Carlo Rossella said: 'Garlic stinks.

I can't digest it and I avoid it like a vampire.' Mr Berlusconi's aversion to garlic was so great that he banned it from the menu when Italy hosted the G8 summit in 2001.

[TheGuru]

I love garlic

[madcat]

They can't do that, can they?

MadCat

[kazthorn]

This is madness!!

[smartsez]

thats just stupid! italians are the worst people for over-using garlic in pasta & pizzas, so how they can all of a sudden decide they dont want to use it is just stupid!