Just got back from a nearby garlic festival.. There have been no vampires in the area for several days, or so I was told...

 I learned something new at the festival: Black Garlic. It's fresh garlic that has been kept @ ~140º for 14 days. It turns black and takes on an extremely different flavour profile... There is lots of

information found searching for "black garlic". A good you tube video on making it as well..

 Are any of you familiar with black garlic??

Not familiar.

It makes me wonder how this was discovered.

I have also never heard of it.  A lot of foods make me wonder how they were discovered -- coffee, chocolate, olives.  The list is endless.

Not used it but have heard of it.  There are quite a few recipes out there and it is on my list of to do's

It's very popular with some in the Asian communities, that's how I learned about it.  The one time I tasted it I liked it.  It was mild, kinda sweet with a hint of dark cane sugar.  I think the process is a mix of heat and fermentation.   Not sure, but I think it was a couple dollar per ounce.

I tried it, and it seemed way too toned down. Probably good for some non garlic folks. I'll stick with "straight up"!

I did not know there were sulfuric compounds in garlic.  I knew cooking "mellowed" it, but I just assumed that the sugars were brought out.  I guess with the amount of time used to cook Black Garlic it almost goes to a brown sugar state of caramelization.