(And a recipe!) Italian cooks have affectionately called it the "stinking rose," but you don't have to be Italian to love garlic. And every summer, the Gilroy Garlic Festival celebrates garlic in some imaginative and dramatic ways. We counted a dozen garlic festivals across the country, but Gilroy's the big one! After all, California accounts for 90 percent of all the garlic grown in the United States. Much of it is processed in the farming town of Gilroy, south of San Jose. Garlic is a part of the lily family. It even has a place in history. It's said that the Romans ate garlic to give them strength before going into battle. Perhaps they figured they didn't have to fight the enemy, they'd only have to breathe on them. Eat fresh garlic and you will have garlic breath. But nobody here seems to notice. After all, it's in almost every menu item. An army of volunteers runs the festival. They'll cook up everything from garlic-based tri-tip, to garlic/pesto pasta, to flaming garlic-saturated calimari, and that old standby, garlic bread. We even found garlic wine, garlic beer, and garlic/chocolate ice cream. The Gilroy Garlic Festival began in 1979, and today it attracts more than 100,000 people. All the money raised goes to charity, but there's another byproduct as well: education about the purported health benefits of garlic and a new appreciation for its taste and versatility. Rudy Melone, one of the founders, estimates that ever since the Garlic Festival started, that "the use of garlic has grown 10 to 20 percent per year, so that the average household uses four pounds of garlic today compared to less than a pound back in 1979." Finally, back to the garlic breath issue. The folks here say that after eating fresh garlic, chew on a sprig or two of parsley. It will help neutralize garlic odor, and keep your breath kissably fresh. Great Garlic Salad Dressing This recipe comes from Senior Producer Corita Gravitt, who first enjoyed this simple combination of garlic and olive oil on salads prepared by her Spanish grandmother. It's great over California greens. For variety, add chopped green olives or capers to the dressing. Combine a quarter cup (or a little bit more) high quality olive oil with two (or more) cloves minced garlic. Add a couple pinches of salt, mix, and let stand for a few minutes. Toss over fresh greens and serve. (It's really that simple-the salt binds the flavor of the garlic to the oil and creates an elegant, but delicious salad dressing.) For information on how to obtain more garlic recipes, visit the Gilroy Garlic Festival's Web site at www.garlicfest.com. If you have questions or comments about this story, please E-mail Senior Producer Corita Gravitt at corita.gravitt@mailexcite.com.