Tips and Tricks from the Professionals
Garlic
These inky cloves have aged like a fine wine. Garlic growers have to find creative ways to preserve their harvest. If left in a warm, humid environment for a few weeks, the pungent bulbs turn inky black. Despite appearances, the yield isn’t spoiled. This savory iteration is simply called “black garlic.” By placing garlic in …
The ingredient would have otherwise been too cheap to grace noble tables. Peasant food in action in Annibale Carracci’s The Beaneater, c. 1585. PUBLIC DOMAIN FOR THE 16TH-CENTURY ITALIAN NOBLE, garlic posed a unique, culinary dilemma. To demonstrate status, a person of taste and means served food prepared with the finest, rarest spices, such as …
How ‘Ennobling’ Helped Italian Aristocrats Solve the Problem of Garlic Read More »
Why do some recipes finely chop garlic, some crush, while some others create a paste by using a pestle? Is there really a difference in the final taste of the dish? When garlic is bruised, it releases a compound known as allicin, along with other aromatic compounds. Allicin is created from two other chemicals, allin …
Essential kitchen tool or a destroyer of garlic flavour? Anthony Bourdain calls the garlic crusher (otherwise known as a garlic press), which crushes garlic into a pulp, an “abomination”, but other chefs claim they enhance garlic by releasing the oils. Knife-cut garlic will caramelise in cooking, unlike pulp, although a crusher will quarantine the slightly …
Separate a head of garlic into cloves by putting two metal bowls together to make a sphere, and shake the head in the bowls. Martha Stewart
For a makeshift spatula, and delicious infused taste, put a clove of garlic on the end of a fork. This is perfect for moving around anything you’re sautéing, like spinach. Dan Kluger at Union Square Cafe.
After working with garlic, rub your hands vigorously on your stainless steel sink for 30 seconds before washing them. It will remove the odour.Gerard Craft – Niche and Taste, St. Louis
Smash garlic cloves inside a resealable plastic bag with the back of a knife. That way, your cutting board and knife won’t smell.Laurent Tourondel – Brasserie Ruhlmann, New York City
Grasp the clove vertically between your thumb and first finger. Squeeze it slightly so the clove begins to bend and you hear a satisfying snap when the skin pops away from the garlic flesh. Slide your fingernail underneath the skin and easily pull it off the clove. From: www.hotpolkadot.com
From: www.adventuresinspice.com
Always buy the freshest garlic you can find; the fresher it is, the sweeter it will be. The best garlic has firm tissue-like skin and should not be bruised, sprouted, soft or shriveled. If you find cloves that have green shoots, discard the shoots — they will only add bitterness.Todd English – The Plaza Food Hall …