Vampires Beware: Garlic Goodies from The Garlic Farm

Until today, I thought I knew everything there was to know about garlic. I mean, I'm Italian: no further questions, your honour.

Then I heard of The Garlic Farm, and they sent me some very garlicky treats that blew my mind.

The first was some chunky Vampire Relish: spicy tomato salsa infused with mouth-filling garlic flavours. It's actually rather delicious and has a devilish kick to it - tasty with tortilla chips but also smothered on some sausages. I probably wouldn't serve it as a party nibble in case the scent of our combined breath became too offensive, but that's not such a bad thing - all the more for me. It's £3.50 a jar.

Second - and one that took a little longer to get my head around - was some garlic beer. The instant I popped off the crown cap I felt like I had fallen into some kind of garlic coma and started worrying I'd hallucinate magic dancing garlic men, but once you get used to the pungent aromas and pour it into a glass it gets interesting.

Not being the biggest beer-drinker, I sampled this bottle with the nearest man I could find, and we soon found that as long as you don't sniff too much as you knock back a mouthful of the stuff, the whole thing blends together quite intriguingly. The quality of the beer is pretty smashing once you get used to its quirkiness.

I can imagine if I was eating some garlicky pasta or a wintery dish then a small glass of this would float my boat, but I must admit I can't exactly envision sipping this in a pub garden. It's £3.50 a bottle and well worth a try.