Against Garlic's Savour
My friend Richard writes with this historical tidbit: "Sir John Harrington, the man credited with inventing the WC, was Queen Elizabeth's cousin. He also left behind this kitchen poem."
If leeks you leake, but do their smell disleeke, eat onions
And you shall not smell the leek.
If you of onions would the scent expel,
Eat garlic – that shall drive down the onion smell.
But against garlic’s savour, if you smart,
I know but one receipt. What’s that? A fart.
— Sir John Harrington, 1592
Now, why he should have thought of me when he discovered this poem is another matter entirely.