Do you love garlic? Like, really love it? Do you see a recipe that calls for a few cloves and double the number? If so, you’re not alone. On average, we Brits include garlic in 40% of all the savoury dishes we cook and get through almost 250 cloves each per year. So it’s worth making the most of this aromatic little gem by tweaking its flavour to suit your supper.
TOM SHINGLER, FOOD EDITOR
Garlic is sold in shops on every continent and included in the dishes of every cuisine. The only exceptions I could find were for religious reasons (Jainists and some Buddhists avoid alliums such as onions and garlic), and I can’t say for sure whether visitors to Antarctica eat garlic – though if I was heading there I’d certainly smuggle in a bulb or two. (Just don’t ask me where!)
The UK was relatively late to the garlic party – it was still seen as somewhat exotic right up until the 1980s – but today we can’t get enough of it. It’s a steadfast ingredient in my (and I bet in your) kitchen: as commonplace as salt, pepper and onions.
But garlic is far from one-dimensional when it comes to flavour. It can range from subtle and sweet to fiery and intense, depending on how it’s prepped and cooked (or not). ‘Finely chopped’ tends to be the default for many dishes, but slicing, crushing or leaving the cloves whole will produce surprisingly different results, offering you more control over how garlicky you want things to taste. Let’s take a look at the different options…
CHOPPING IT
This is the go-to for most of us, but roughly chopped isn’t much use unless you’re going to be whizzing it later on. Finely chopped garlic will provide all the pungency you could want but still melts away into dishes, avoiding overpowering bombs of flavour.
How to use it…
Finely chopped is fine for nearly every situation, but one of the other options below will give you more control over the flavour.
USING THE WHOLE BULB
Garlic bulbs are ideal for roasting in the oven, as the papery skins help keep the flesh from burning (though foil is always a good idea for extra protection). Slice the top off the bulb before you roast it to make it easier to squeeze the flesh out later, and give it a little sprinkling of oil to make sure the cloves cook evenly.
How to use it…
Once roasted, the soft, caramelised cloves are perfect for stirring into sauces or tossing with roast veg to give them a mellow, garlicky sweetness. You can also add individual unpeeled cloves, bashed with the flat side of a knife, to trays of roast potatoes or stuff them i
