• chaogomu@lemmy.worldEnglish
      29·
      14 days ago

      It’s also important to note that allicin breaks down with time, acid, or the application of heat.

      Another note here, it takes time for the allicin to form. So your maximum flavor is about 10-15 minutes after crushing the garlic. After that, you start losing flavor.

      That said, allicin is only one of many flavors. And different preparations can highlight those flavors. A rich tomato sauce that has simmered for hours is elevated with garlic, but fresh garlic is a waste. Use jarred or even powdered (soaked in room temp water for a few minutes first) and it will taste much the same.

      • kameecoding@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        14 days ago

        You see those influencers doing fresh garlic into ice cube trays, well I found those at one of the grocery stores, now I buy those, because they are perfect for long cooked tomato sauces, you can add a lot of garlic to those and I absolutely despise the stickyness of fresh garlic when you peel it, well no more of that for me, I just take out one or two or let’s be honest, 4 cubes of frozen garlic and use that in those recipes.

        • chaogomu@lemmy.worldEnglish
          4·
          14 days ago

          If you want to make your own version. There are a couple tricks. Take an entire head of garlic, place it on a solid surface and crush it with the heal of your palm. Then throw the entire mess into a mason jar, or even two matching bowls closed up. Then shake the piss out of it for 10-30 seconds.

          Then dump the contents and pick out the fully pealed garlic.

          Then just finely chop or crush the garlic and put it into an ice cube tray. You can then add a thin layer of olive oil to help cut the freezer burn, or just cover the tray.

          A food processor and a spoon can also be used to keep from touching the garlic juice.

  • StinkyFingerItchyBum@lemmy.caEnglish
    51·
    14 days ago

    This reminds me of the time we went to SanFran for a conference and 30 of us all went to the Stinking Rose (a notorious garlic overload restaurant) for dinner then all took the same red eye back home.

    The smell on that plane was causing complaints from passengers.

  • petersr@lemmy.worldEnglish
    17·
    13 days ago

    I am not really sure if it is due to surface area directly, but more with the number of garlic cells being crushed, causing the potent component to be released in defense.

  • Isolde@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    13 days ago

    Proof! Except the results have almost nothing to do with surface area and everything with chemical reactions and compositions. :D

  • tiramichu@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    1·
    14 days ago

    I would love if recipe writers could form a consensus on what the terms “minced” or “crushed” mean when it comes to garlic.

    Sometimes “minced” means finely chopped, while other times it means as a paste.

    Some recipes use “crushed” to mean the paste, while other times that means to squash a clove with the flat of your knife so it cracks and the oil runs, but still leave whole.

    You can normally work it out from context, but it really keeps you guessing.

    • pishadoot@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      2·
      14 days ago

      Minced always means very very finely chopped. That’s a mince; it’s a preparation technique, not necessarily just for garlic.

      Crushing, at least in the context of garlic, generally means using a garlic press (most common in western cooking) or using a mortar and pestle. You can also crush with the side of a knife, bottom of a glass, etc but that’s a pretty rare method because you’ll usually end up with large globs or chunks and it’s very likely that people will get big ass mouthfuls of garlic, which most people don’t like (I do like, but most don’t)

      I can’t think of a time when I’ve seen a serious recipe call for crushing garlic in an uncontrolled manner like with the side of a knife. If you find a recipe that does so, just assume they mean to squeeze it in a press, unless in your judgement the recipe benefits from big clumps of garlic (mashed potatoes is a good example imo).

      But yeah, it’s either mince or press, if the recipe is unclear. I usually just press no matter what because I love garlic flavor and it’s easier than a mince - not because the cutting is hard necessarily, but because it’s extra cleaning of the knife, your hands, and cutting board takes more time. Easier to just rinse the press and toss it in the dishwasher.

      Slicing is different, as is roasting the cloves.

    • Drusas@fedia.io
      2·
      14 days ago

      I’ve been reading recipes for decades and have never encountered this problem.