Smell that pungent, mouth-watering aroma?

You will as the day draws nearer for the 30th anniversary of the Gilroy Garlic Festival, July 25-27 at Christmas Hill Park in Gilroy.

Over the years, the popular event has raised nearly $8 million for local charities. And it’s fed quite a crowd _ more than 3 million, who have consumed 376 tons of beef, 119 tons of pasta, 68 tons of scampi, 50 tons of calamari, and 72 tons of California garlic.

This year will be more of the same as booths will dish out all things garlic, including garlic frog legs, garlic Kettlekorn, Cajun fried catfish, garlic chicken pizza, lumpia, garlic fried-green tomatoes, and of course, the ever popular, garlic ice cream.

July 26 at 10 a.m., eight amateur cooks from across the country will duke it out in the annual cook-off. This year’s local contestant is Linda Wang of Sunnyvale, who will be trying to sway the judges with her garlic corn creme brulee with pan-seared scallops and garlic pancetta saute. For the first time, the cook-off will be telecast over the Internet on the festival’s Web site.

July 27 at noon, the professionals get in on the act when four area chefs will vie for a top prize of $5,000 and 1,000 pounds of fresh garlic. This “Garlic Showdown” will feature chefs Mark Ayers of the Highlands Inn and Hyatt Regency Monterey; Christopher Preyale of the Fountaingrove Golf & Athletic Club in Santa Rosa; James Waller of the Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa; and Ryan Scott of San Francisco’s Mission Beach Cafe and a contestant in this past season’s “Top Chef” show. This “Iron Chef”-style challenge will feature a not-so-secret ingredient — garlic, of course.

Tickets to the festival are $12 for adults, $6 for children ages 6-12 and for seniors, and free for kids under age 6.

For those who want to bring a part of the festival home — well, besides the resulting garlic breath — pick up a copy of “Any Bozo Can Cook,”  a collection of 102 recipes inspired by everyone’s fave smelly bulb. It was written by Sam Bozzo and Gene Sakahara, both festival cooks and former festival presidents. The $16 book will be sold at the festival, and online.

For a sneak taste, try this recipe from the book:

Garlic shrimp with spicy garlic peanut sauce

For sauce:

4 garlic cloves, finely minced

¼ to ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, to taste

1 tablespoon oil (canola or safflower)

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons canned coconut milk, unsweetened

4 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

3 tablespoons hoisin sauce

½ teaspoon sugar

¾ cup water

For shrimp:

2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 ½ cups cilantro leaves (reserve ½ cup)

1 cup canned coconut milk, unsweetened

6 garlic cloves, finely minced

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

3 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and finely minced

3 teaspoon soy sauce

4 teaspoons brown sugar

To make sauce: In a small saucepan, heat oil and cook garlic and red pepper flakes until garlic turns golden. Whisk in rest of the sauce ingredients and bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Lower heat, then simmer sauce until thickened, about 1 minute. Sauce may be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated in a tightly-covered container. Serve sauce warm or at room temperature.

To cook shrimp: Place shrimp in a large plastic, zip-top bag. Place other ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until almost smooth. Pour over shrimp and turn to coat. Refrigerate up to 2 hours.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp (shake off most of marinade and reserve). Cook shrimp, stirring constantly, 2 to 3 minutes, or until pink and opaque. Transfer to a large serving bowl; keep warm.

Place 1 cup peanut sauce into pan and add ½ cup reserved marinade. Cook, stirring constantly, 1 to 2 minutes, or until sauce bubbles. Pour over shrimp and garnish with cilantro leaves. Serve over cooked thin noodles (capellini or vermicelli) or jasmine rice.

Nancy Meyers entered this in the local television garlic recipe contest and won.