In Vessalico, tiny Commune of the High Arroscia Valley in the Albenga hinterland and in particular in the highest and less inhabited fractions, an ancient garlic is grown.

Vessalico's red, it has an intense and slightly spicy taste and, above all, an extreme preservability. Farmers of the area have been handing the bulbs for generations, along with the cultivation and packing techniques. Garlic heads are not cut off from the plant or clumps of the tuft, but packed in long braids (rest): the heads, dried and selected according to the size, are twisted into pairs of two.

An operation that can only be performed in the evening and in the morning when the garlic is damp and the leaves do not break. The plants do not recede, kept in the shade, continue to nourish the garlic and keep it healthy and fragrant even eight, ten months after the harvest.

Garlic of Vessalico is a key ingredient for a traditional dish of local gastronomy: the Azé, a mayonnaise flavored with extra virgin olive oil and garlic crushed in the mortar, one of the many heirs of the Medieval Altai.