Garlic - You Can Never Get Enough
By Alice Osborne
Modern science has shown that garlic is a powerful natural broad-spectrum antibiotic. Bacteria in the body do not appear to develop a resistance to garlic as they do to many modern pharmaceutical antibiotics. This means that its positive health benefits can continue over time, rather than helping to breed antibiotic resistant "superbugs."
Studies have also shown that garlic - especially aged garlic - can have a powerful antioxidant effect. Antioxidants can help to protect the body against damaging free radicals, so including them in our diet on a daily basis is a smart thing to do.
There are two main medical ingredients which produce these health benefits: allicin and diallyl sulphides. Garlic is a sulphurous compound and in general, a stronger tasting clove has more sulphur content and hence more potential medicinal value. Some people have suggested that organically grown garlic tends towards a higher sulphur level and hence, greater benefit to health. In my experience it certainly has the best taste.
Among other things, raw garlic is used to treat the symptoms of acne and there is strong evidence that it assists in managing high cholesterol levels. It can even be effective as a natural mosquito repellent. I had to laugh when I read that, because as we all know, folks who eat a lot of raw garlic repel more than mosquitoes!
Garlic grows under the ground in large, slightly off-white bulbs (or "heads") which are covered by a papery skin. Inside each bulb is anything from ten to twenty individual cloves which themselves have a pinkish skin.
When buying garlic, make sure the heads are dry with plenty of paper covering. If you can see green shoots, then the garlic is probably too old and/or wasn't dried properly. Cloves that are far too old will crumple under the slightest pressure from the fingers.
Garlic is certainly a universal food. I saw a cute quote about it on the wall of Haggen's, a grocery store in Bellingham, WA. Morley Safer said, "You can never get enough garlic. With enough garlic you can eat the New York Times!"
That said, it goes without saying that it's important to remember the difference between bulbs and cloves when cooking! And when buying garlic for cooking, avoid being tempted by the very large elephant garlic. Although this looks wonderful, the taste is not at all the same and it is no substitute for ordinary garlic.
Once you get used to cooking with garlic you will probably find yourself using more than the recipe states.
You can buy a variety of garlic presses and other gadgets to help crush the cloves. If you'd rather avoid gadgets then it's easy to crush garlic with only a knife and a little salt.
In general with garlic, the finer the chop, the stronger the taste. Crushed garlic has the strongest taste of all and only the real garlic aficionado uses crushed garlic raw. When cooked, whole garlic has a much milder, rather sweet taste. Garlic also mellows the longer it is cooked. Garlic added at the end of cooking will give a stronger taste than garlic prepared the same way but added earlier.
We've all had our garlic mashed potatoes, garlic-flavored croutons, garlic dusted French bread, and garlic-roasted chicken. Makes my mouth water. But here's a recipe for garlic cheese spread that is truly superb that you may not have had yet:
Garlic Cheese Spread
8 oz feta cheese
8 oz soft cream cheese
1 or 2+ Tbsp natural plain yogurt (use 1 Tbsp for a thick spread, 2 or more to make a thinner dip)
4 cloves garlic, crushed
Thoroughly mix all the ingredients in a food processor; whizz until smooth. That's it!
Transfer to an airtight container and keep in the fridge. Adjust the yogurt to get the consistency you want. One or two tablespoons makes a thick spread, perfect as a sandwich filler or toast topper. Two or more tablespoons will give a thinner result better suited as a dip.
If you're serving this as a dip, up the garlic level even further with garlic breadsticks and garlic stuffed olives. Just choose your guests carefully!
Garlic needs to be stored in a cool place away from direct sunlight. And it needs to "breathe." Allowing the correct air circulation will extend its shelf life. An excellent way to store garlic is in a special garlic keeper. These are designed with holes to allow the air to circulate and also offers the advantage of looking good in the kitchen. I use a small one that can hold about three bulbs. I don't store more than that at any one time. They are easy to find - kitchen specialty shops, online, even Target carries them. The average price is from $9 to $15.
Important: Never store raw garlic in oil - this can lead to botulism and possible death. Garlic heads and cloves should also not be stored in your kitchen fridge. If garlic is refrigerated then it is likely to go soft and moldy. The same problem is likely to occur if garlic is stored in a sealed plastic container.
Finally, how do we cope with the unpleasant smelling breath garlic-eating causes? Chewing fresh raw parsley is reputed to help assist this condition and this may be the reason why so many dinner entrees are served with a parsley garnish.
I haven't had much luck with the parsley trick - my hubby will verify. I have to rely on the old-fashioned breath mint and even then, the odor tends to linger a little. None-the-less, I have to agree with Morley Safer - we just can't get enough garlic!
