Culinology - June 2019 - 25

Garlic King's Jeff Crace sources garlic, ginger, peppers and more from around
the world and showcases innovative uses of the aromatics with royal flair

eel free to call him the "prince of garlic."
That nickname is fine with Jeff Crace, vicepresident of sales and marketing at Garlic
King. The business, based in Temecula,
Calif., rules the roost importing and processing absolutely anything garlic - cloves,
sliced, diced, chopped, pureed, roasted and
toasted - you name it, it's in the kingdom.
"And my stepdad, company president John
Rosingana, is the Garlic King," he said.
The 20-year-old company, which Mr.
Rosingana co-owns with Peter Tarantino,
operates a manufacturing plant in San Diego
and custom formulates products for food
manufacturers, food service accounts and
retail packaged goods. "Our company's garlic
and other products are clean-label, organic,
non-GMO and all-natural," Mr. Crace said.
"We also offer our customers green onions,
shallots, several types of peppers and ginger,
with ginger ranking as our second best-seller
after garlic."
Garlic King imports 95% of its garlic from
China and Mexico to keep up with demand
- it grows the other 5% in California, which
ranks about 11th in worldwide garlic production, according to Mr. Crace. Most of the garlic in the United States is imported, he said.
In fact, garlic lovers may be found around
the world. Garlic reigns in many cultures -
its popularity ranges from classic Italian to
authentic Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine -
as the passion for the aromatic clove knows
few boundaries.

Packing a punch
Mr. Crace's current project involves sourcing spicy Peruvian peppers, specifically aji
amarillo and rocoto, and this is the company's
newest product launch. "I spent two weeks in
Peru last year visiting farmers and processors
- I was looking for new ingredients," he said.
"Peruvian foods have been trending the last

couple of years with more Peruvian restaurants opening from coast to coast."
To delve into the national flavors, he spent
time with a chef from Le Cordon Bleu in Lima
cooking Peruvian dishes and visiting local
markets. "I wanted to see applications for raw
peppers as well as in sauces, dressings and
marinades," he said.
Garlic King plans to import the Peruvian
peppers by early 2020. "The aji amarillo is
Peru's national, most popular pepper and
is similar in shape to the jalapeno (3,500 to
8,000 Scoville) but has a fruity flavor and
packs even more of a punch with 30,000 to
50,000 Scoville," he said. "The rocoto looks
similar to a red bell pepper and has a similar
taste but is much spicier at 50,000 Scoville."
To spread the aura of garlic and expand its
culinary appeal under his stewardship, Mr.
Crace leads a sales team and meets with US
and often international suppliers to invigorate
and sometimes reinvent how garlic is perceived and how it's used in cooking.
"We were also one of the first companies
to offer black garlic (fermented) commercially
and this product is really starting to take off
now," he said. "Black garlic is still the new
thing; it's trending and is more affordable
now. Due to increased demand, we're expanding our product line from just puree and
bulbs to also include diced."
Chefs often incorporate black garlic in savory and sweet - entrees, seafood dishes,
hummus, sauces, marinades and salad
dressings such as black garlic vinaigrette
- and even in ice cream and cupcakes.
Demonstrating gold standard uses, Mr. Crace
received the Research Chefs Association
(RCA) Culinology Expo Product Award in
2014 for black garlic Mexican hot chocolate
cupcakes and in 2011 for a black garlic sauce
in collaboration with Chef Martin Corso -
one of the RCA's founding members.

by Susan Malovany
editor@sosland.com

JUNE 2019 | Culinology |

Culinology - June 2019

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