Fresh garlic, an old home remedy has become lost among its derivatives and dehydrated powders and salts. Rediscover the benefits of fresh garlic.
Garlic Facts
An extremely valuable kitchen ingredient, garlic has been used for hundreds of years in home remedies and treatments for the common cold and flu; acne; managing high cholesterol; natural mosquito repellant and as an antibiotic. Garlic is also valued in more modern times as a healthy antioxidant. The human body does not appear to build up a resistance to garlic, so any positive health benefits may continue over time.
Garlic grows beneath the topsoil as large, slightly off-white heads or bulbs, covered with a papery skin. Inside each bulb are ten to twenty individual cloves, which have a pinkish skin. It's important for measurement purposes to note the difference between bulbs and cloves when cooking. Look closely at your selections and make sure the heads are dry with plenty of paper covering. If you can see green shoots then the garlic is probably too old or wasn't properly dried. Garlic that is too old will crumple under the slightest pressure from the fingers.
Cooking with Garlic
Garlic can be used raw or cooked. Raw garlic is stronger than cooked, minced garlic stronger than sliced. Crushed garlic has the strongest taste of all and if crushed raw is only for the real aficionado. The rule for raw garlic is - the finer the chop the stronger the taste.
When cooked, whole garlic cloves have a mild, rather sweet taste that release best with slow cooking methods. Roasted garlic brings a different, smokier flavor and aroma entirely. If you are going to sizzle garlic and cook it quickly, especially with onion and other vegetables, add it last! If you burn or brown garlic it may bring a bitter taste to your entire dish. The later in the recipe assembly that you introduce the garlic, the stronger the garlic’s presence will be in your finished dish.
To prepare garlic, first strip off the papery covering from the bulb and, with a paring knife, slice open the inner covering of an individual clove. Neither the inner nor outer skins of the raw garlic bulb should be eaten. The inner covering is usually a purplish tan and is a bit harder to peel than the outer, paper-like skin of the garlic bulb. Now ease out as many cloves as required. Garlic cloves come in a wide variety of sizes, so the numbers given in a recipe should be treated as a rough guide only. Use sparingly as you first begin to introduce raw garlic into your cooking.
Storing Garlic
Using fresh garlic does take some time, patience and a bit of knife skill, but the effort is well rewarded with flavors that highlight and enhance a recipe, as dried or dehydrated garlic seasonings sometimes cannot. Garlic storage rules are to buy it and use it as soon as possible. Never store garlic or garlic cloves in oil as botulism can grow resulting in serious illness. Don’t store for long periods in the refrigerator as garlic can grow mold quickly. Storing up to three bulbs in a cool, darkened (no direct sunlight), dry container with holes for air circulation, such as a garlic holder, is best when storing for short periods of time.
