Similar in size to a walnut

Walnut

Juglans is a plant genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are known as walnuts. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts , but not the hickories...

, the solo garlic, also known as single clove garlic or pearl garlic, is a variety of elephant garlic

Elephant Garlic

Elephant garlic is a plant belonging to the onion genus. It is not a true garlic, but actually a variant of the species to which the garden leek belongs. It has a tall, solid, flowering stalk and broad, flat leaves much like those of the leek, but forms a bulb consisting of very large, garlic-like...

. It has the flavour of the garlic clove but is somewhat milder and slightly perfumed. It originates in Yunnan

Yunnan

Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...

province in Southern China. The appearance is somewhat akin to that of a pickling onion, with white skin and often purple stripes. Solo garlic offers the advantage, compared to traditional garlic, of being very quick and easy to peel. From a commercial standpoint, it probably also results in people eating more of it.

Solo garlic is also said to be good baked whole and served as a vegetable. Like the better-known multi-clove garlic, the flesh turns into a paste after baking.