Photo: iStock What is it? Black garlic is your normal, everyday culinary garlic that undergoes a remarkable enzymatic transformation under time, heat and humidity. Whole bulbs are matured between two to six weeks, between 60C to 90C at 80-90 per cent humidity. Lower temperatures and a longer curing time leads to better, deeper flavour, pundits say. During curing, the compounds that make garlic strongly flavoured and powerfully aromatic combine with the natural sugars and protein in a process called the Maillard reaction. It's the same reaction that makes roast beef brown and cake crumbs golden and delicious. Black garlic's origin is debated, but it appears to have been developed in Korea with patents taken out in the mid-20th century. However, oral histories have black garlic being made in families for centuries.