"ViLco" wrote in message ...

> Michael Kuettner wrote:

>>> That's why I do my best to keep far from anything chinese

>> Good luck with that. About half of the "Italian" garlic is from China;
>> smuggled in and re-labelled.

> I know it happens for everything but... half? Do you have any source for
> that info?

<http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=OLAF/10/6&format=HTML&aged=0&language=DE&guiLanguage=fr>

That one, for example.
The math : 1 200 000 kg = 1 500 000 Euro in tarriffs alone.
Meaning : By just smuggling the garlic into Europe you earn 1,5 Euros per
kilo.
Add to that :
- EU money for growing garlic in poor parts of Italy
- the difference of price between 1 ton of garlic from China vs. 1 from
Italy
- long open coasts and the Mafia.

Half was a conservative estimation. It could be two thirds.
Only drugs bring more money than garlic ...

>> Btw, shouldn't the be Spaghetti aglio e olio e peperoncino ?

> Peperoncino is there but it gets usually omitted when citing this dish, so
> the common form is "spaghetti aglio e olio", or "aio e oio" in south Italy
> where also spaghetti doesn't need to be cited since they're a staple for
> this dish, just as hot pepper.

I've seen aglio olio e peperoncino vs. aglio e oglio in Veneto nearly
everywhere.
Maybe it's a regional thing.

Cheers,

Michael Kuettner