Purple Stripe garlics produce fewer but larger cloves, averaging 8 to 10. The cloves are noticeably tallish, crescent shaped with elongated tips, and arranged in a circular pattern.
The outer bulb wrappers are a little thin and loose, but the more you peel away the thicker and tighter they get. Once the cloves are revealed, they are milky white with cranberry colored streaks on the outside of the cloves, while the edges between the cloves are nearly a solid cranberry color.
Named because of the bright purple streaks on both bulb wrappers and clove skins, these are the most attractive looking of all the garlics. Chesnook Red is from the Republic of Georgia in the former USSR. They may well be among the oldest of the garlics.
Chesnook Red is a full flavored garlic with a mellow aftertaste that lingers nicely, winning "best baked garlic" taste tests conducted by Rodale, Sunset Magazine, Martha Stewart, and others.
