Today at a workday at the local school, one of the volunteers thinned the society garlic (Tulbaghia violacea) plantings. They were threatening to crowd out some plants added to the beds by students (not pictured in the photo below).
I’d heard from another volunteer that society garlic are edible so I asked to grab some.
The clumps with better roots, I planted in a pot. The rest I brought inside to clean. The whole house had a delicious smell of garlic from them.
I rinsed it thoroughly, pulling out the flower stems which seemed to be tougher — I added the flowers to a bouquet — then chopped the leaves and stir fried them with olive oil:
I’ve heard that it makes good eating in a salad also, but I was a little paranoid about eating it uncooked.
Maybe since the stems were on the older side, it took a bit more chewing than I’d like, but the flavor was nice — garlicky, just like the smell. I also noticed a bit of a burning sensation — but I also get that with garlic too. I’ve now survived several hours with no clear ill effects so I’m calling it a success.
Here’s one comment from Reddit that gave me a little confidence cooking it this way: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskCulinary/comments/bdakjg/society_garlic_tulbaghia_violacea_how_to_cook/ “I chop it and saute in olive oil on a low to medium heat, like I do with garlic. I let it change colour but I don’t brown it much – it’s still green, but no longer bright green. Wonderful aroma and flavour when cooked this way.” That’s just what I tried to do, and it mostly worked.
Society garlic (Tulbaghia violacea) is not in the same genus as garlic (Allium) but they are in the same subfamily, Allioideae, of Amaryllidaceae.
According to Wikipedia, “[t]he genus was named for Ryk Tulbagh (1699–1771), one time governor of The Cape of Good Hope.”
Though society garlic are also known as “pink agapanthus”, the “agapanthus” used as ornamental plants are in a different subfamily: Agapanthoideae. Unlike Tulbaghia violacea, the true Agapanthuses are mildly poisonous. Agapanthus praecox, “a popular garden plant around the world”, can produce symptoms like, “nausea vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhoea if ingested, with severe ulceration of the mouth from the clear sticky sap. Skin contact with the sap may cause a burning sensation, skin irritation and rashes.” But they don’t smell like garlic apparently so that’s an easy way to know you’re not dealing with a true Agapanthus.
// Edit: adding some quotes related to traditional uses
Traditional uses
One of the commonly used plants in [traditional medicine] is Tulbaghia violacea, a fast-growing, bulbous plant with narrow, long, strap-like fleshy leaves which releases a strong garlic smell when bruised. It is a geophyte belonging to the Alliaceae family and is commonly known as wild garlic, wildeknoffel or wildeknoflok (Afrikaans), utswelane or itswele lomlambo (isiXhosa) and isihaqa (isiZulu)… T. violacea has many uses both in TM as well as in food and for household purposes. The leaves and flowers are used in salads and some Zulu-speaking people use it in the same way as spinach due to its peppery-garlic taste.
Kader, T.; Sibiya, N.; Mapfumari, S.; Mothibe, M. Phytochemical Composition, Antioxidant and In Vitro Enzyme-Based Antidiabetic Activities of Tulbaghia violacea Collected from the Eastern Cape and Gauteng Provinces, South Africa. Preprints 2025, 2025062086. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202506.2086.v1
Quoting from a blog post Sam Crosfield, assistant gardener, on the Royal College of Physicians blog:
Traditionally, the Zulus used T violacea’s leaves and flowers – eg spinach – as a hot, peppery seasoning to accompany their main meal. They eat these parts of the plant only in moderation as prolonged or excessive consumption are associated with undesirable symptoms, including abdominal pain and inflammation as well as cessation of peristalsis. The Zulus use the rhizome as an aphrodisiac. They also plant it around their homes because they believe that the plant’s strong odour is excellent at repelling snakes.
South Africa’s society garlic
You can hear the pronunciation of “Isihaqa” in this video.
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