What not to do with garlic (and what to do instead!)
Garlic cloves fly through our kitchens, because the holy trinity of olive oil, onion and garlic is the foundation of countless great dishes for a reason. So let’s take a closer look at this little powerhouse and tell you which mistakes we’ll never make with garlic again…
You know the feeling: when you have a pan on the stove with an onion gently frying in olive oil over low heat, along with some chopped garlic, everyone thinks something very special is happening in the kitchen. So easy! But even with the humble garlic clove, you need to be careful not to do a few things:
Buying old bulbs
Check that a garlic bulb is tightly closed at the top and isn’t turning yellow. A purplish glow is fine, but otherwise it should look fresh and white. When you touch it, the cloves shouldn’t feel dry or give way and sink in. And if you see green shoots at the top, leave that bulb behind and look for a better one.
Storing garlic incorrectly
The best way to store garlic is in a dry, dark place with sufficient air circulation. Not behind a kitchen window in the sun, or in the refrigerator or freezer. There are special containers for it (with holes for circulation), but you can also store it at room temperature in a paper bag.
Fiddling with 40 cloves
We have the most delicious recipe for chicken with 40 cloves of garlic for you, but what you don’t want is to remove the skins from all forty cloves one by one with a small knife. Fortunately, you don’t have to in this version, but if you ever do need to peel a whole mountain of garlic cloves, we also have a few handy tips and gadgets for peeling garlic quickly. And of course, if you only need to do a few, this works perfectly too: give them a quick whack with the flat side of a large knife and you’ll have a good start on removing their skins.
And then applying your make-up
The reason I usually don’t even peel garlic cloves before dragging them over the Microplane: I don’t like garlic fingers. But I do have an extremely effective stainless-steel ‘soap’ at home, and believe me – it really works. Just rub that metal soap over your fingers and hands with a little hand soap and water, and you’re done. Nobody wants to bring smelly garlic fingers anywhere near their nose or eyes, right? Seriously, get one. Highly recommended, along with that oil pourer.
It doesn’t always have to be finely chopped
Always think carefully about how you’re going to prepare the garlic and what role it will play. When garlic is crushed or chopped, the compound allicin is released, bringing with it that characteristic sharp smell and taste. The more finely you crush, slice or chop garlic, the more of this compound is released and the more intense the smell and taste become. If you want to give a sauce or dish a subtle garlic flavor, it’s enough to leave the cloves whole or cut them into a few large pieces (and fish them out later).
Also delicious: rub the inside of a salad bowl with a peeled clove. You’ll get the aroma without the raw pieces. And if you want the garlic to really stand out, grate it on a Microplane for the finest possible result. Whatever you do, make sure all the garlic is the same size, so you don’t end up with undercooked or bitter pieces that have been fried too long.
(Too) well-done
Bitter, burnt garlic is a definite no-no. There’s no going back, so if the garlic burns, you have to start everything again from scratch. Even worse: you often don’t taste it until the dish is completely finished. So always add the garlic only after the onions (for example) have almost finished sweating perfectly (slowly and over low heat), just before the rest of the ingredients go into the pan, or near the end.
Also read:
- Chopped garlic in a jar: gold or gross?
- Recipe: garlic soup with three bulbs (!) of garlic
- The garlic press is unnecessary
