How to Become a Garlic Expert, Every Time You Cook

How to Become a Garlic Expert, every time you cook is often a mystery to the British. While other cultures across the world utilise garlic in many forms, we simply push a clove of garlic into a crude metal press and squeeze the life out of the clove into whatever we think will benefit from a hit of flavour. Leaning how to use garlic properly will open up avenue in your cooking.

Have a look at our post, Fantastic garlic and chefs secret, oils for tips on growing your own garlic and how to make herb oils. And if you are looking for a source of garlic try The Garlic Farm on the Isle of White who grow some of the best garlic in Britain.

Garlic over the Centuries.

For centuries garlic has been valued for its culinary and medicinal attributes. There are Biblical references to garlic and in many cultures, garlic was given to provide strength. Garlic was given to the original Olympic athletes in Greece, as perhaps one of the earliest performance enhancing tricks. Can you imagine working out in the gym munching on garlic? You might have the place to yourself.

The romans referred to it as ‘The Stinking Rose’ recognising both its value and pungent smell. But there is far more to garlic and learning how to get the best and most subtle.

Types of garlic.

Most of the small heads of garlic we get in supermarkets is imported Chinese garlic. Most of it is dried out and has lost its freshness. My advice is to grow your own, its easy and lets you try new varieties. You don’t even need a garden, I grown mine in pots in the polytunnel, but a large window ledge or balcony would be ideal. Plant out the garlic in the winter or early spring to have a crop in spring or early autumn.   

There are two types of garlic. Soft neck which is what you will find in the supermarkets and Hard neck, which has a better flavour and if you grow at home provides you with the stem and flower, known as ‘scapes’, to use in addition to the bulb. These are popular in Chinese food stores.

Become a Garlic Expert – Peeling garlic

Most chefs will peel garlic by using a cook’s knife. Lay the garlic clove onto the chopping board and place the cook’s knife flat on top of the garlic so it site roughly halfway down the blade. Give the knife a firm tap with the heel of your hand. This will loosen the skin enough, so it almost falls of the clove.

This takes a little practice and some care. If you are not confident working with a large knife, try the same technique using a flat scraper or fish slice instead.

There is a gadget on the market that peels the garlic clove via friction. It is basically rubber tube in which the garlic sits. You then roll the tube across the counter pressing down with the flat of your hand. I have never tried it, but it may be worth a look.

How to Love Garlic.

You might think garlic is a bit of a one trick pony but that’s not the case, it has a number of different personalities according to its variety and most important of all how you use it.

Maximum punch.

When a clove of garlic is crushed in a press or by hand an enzyme in the bulb changes the chemicals in the garlic to produce the pungent aroma, we all know. These enzymes react with oxygen in the air to intensify the flavour. Leaving crushed garlic to stand a few minutes will enhance the flavour to its full potential.

Become a Garlic Expert – How to crush garlic, Full on flavour.

You can of course use a garlic press but it won’t give you the full flavour. It has become very popular to grate garlic into a dish using a very fine microplane grater. I think this is a better option than the press, and a lot easier to clean!

However, for me, nothing beats correctly crushed garlic and here’s how to do it-.

Using your cooks knife peel and chop the garlic. Move the garlic into a small pile towards the front of the chopping board and put a good pinch of sea salt on top of the pile.

Hold the cook’s knife flat on the board and place two fingers of the left hand (assuming you are right-handed) just below the tip of the knife. Place the knife, still held flat onto the garlic using the top third of the knife where the curve is.

Now press down with the two fingers and draw the blade across the pile with a clockwise twisting motion. The pressure of the knife and the grinding of the salt should after a number of passes across the garlic beginning to crush it to a paste. When the process is complete you will have a slightly sticky garlic paste. Not only does the salt help with the crushing, but it also draws the moisture for the garlic developing the flavour.

Variations of garlic.

Black Garlic

Black garlic is manufactured by storing heads or cloves of garlic in carefully controlled conditions of temperature and humidity. the pungency of the garlic almost disappears, and the garlic develops flavours of Liquorice and caramel with a sharp finish. Its quite morish and great on sourdough bread as well as been an interesting ingredient. Its well worth trying, the only downside is that it’s too complicated to make at home.

Roasted garlic

This is a great way of adding a mild, rich flavour of garlic to soups and stews. Its really good on toast as well!

Blanch the Garlic first.

Trim off the tops of the garlic heads to reveal the cloves below Place the cold milk into a pan and add the heads of garlic. Bring the pan to the simmer and allow to cook for one minute., then remove from the heat and let the pan stand for five minutes This will remove some of the strong flavour from the garlic and make it more mellow.

Remove the pan form the heat and drain off the milk them cool the garlic under running water. As the garlic is cooling wash off any scum or fat in the bulbs.

Wrapping the Garlic.

Take some tinfoil and make some double thickness squares of foil, large enough to completely enclose a head of garlic. Place a head of garlic on each square cut side up. Add a pinch of sea salt, then pour a teaspoon of olive oil over the garlic. TIP. If you set the foil into a small bowl, it makes the process a lot less messy.

Wrap each head of garlic in a square of foil, insuring it is well sealed. Then place the garlic parcels on a tray, (cupcake trays work well) and roast in the oven for 45 minutes at 180˚c.

When ready remove from the tray and let cool.

For larger Amounts,

If you want to roast a large volume of garlic, set the blanched heads in an ovenproof casserole.

Add the oil and salt as before, you will need less oil this method. Place a sheet of tinfoil on the pan followed by the lid. This will help seal in the moisture. Cook for roughly 75minutes at 180˚c.

When cooked let the garlic cool in the pot. Remove and store in the fridge. The garlic will keep for a week or so dependent on your fridge.

Confit Garlic.

Confit garlic is a method of cooking and preserving garlic for later use. The long slow cooking mellows the astringency of the garlic. This makes it great for using in hummus, making garlic mash or using in salad dressings.

Pull apart the heads of garlic to produce individual cloves. These is no need to peel the cloves, but you can if you wish. The skin comes off easily once the garlic is cooked.

Place the garlic into a small pan and cover with the olive oil. Don’t use your best quality oil, a mid-range version is fine. Ensure the garlic is covered but don’t swamp the pan, it’s just a waste of oil.

Place the pan over a really low heat. We need to cook the garlic but without letting the pan boil. Ideally You want the oil to be at 90°c and stay there. I think this is best done without a lid on the pan as you can see exactly what’s happening. A probe thermometer is also very useful to be sure the garlic is cooking.

Leave to cook for 30-40 minutes or until the garlic cloves are soft. If the pan starts to simmer remove it from the heat for a while and then return it to keep on cooking.

Storing the confit.

When the garlic is ready have your sterilised jars on hand then transfer the contents of the pan to the jars. Ensure the garlic is completely covered in oil then secure the lid.

Let the jars cool until you can handle them, then stand them in iced water to cool quickly.

If you are unsure on how to sterilise preserving jars look up our post, Home Preserving, The Golden Rules.

Notes.

Store the jars in the fridge, where they should be fine for a month, unopened. Always use clean spoons to remove the garlic from the jars to avoid contamination. Do not use and jars which have bubbles of gas forming within them. If you want to store the garlic for longer, Keep in in the freezer for up to six months

And finally. Never put raw garlic into oil to make flavoured oils. Bacteria can form within the oil from the raw garlic, resulting in food poisoning from Botulism Toxins.

Things to try with garlic.

Enjoy Life!

John.