Southern Style Cooking: The Secret to Getting the Best Flavor Out of Your Garlic

Saturday, December 4, 2021

The Secret to Getting the Best Flavor Out of Your Garlic

How to Get Garlic to Love You Back

Mariana Gonzalez,
Email Editor

I've had garlic on my mind a lot lately. First, because I made these incredible roasted garlic mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving. (I added crème fraîche to mine, which I'm now convinced is the secret to next-level mashed potatoes.) It's hard to describe the process for making them as anything other than sensual—the way the ingredients melt into one another, the way whole potatoes transform into a creamy, luscious dream before your very eyes.

The most seductive part, though? The way soft, brown whole roasted garlic cloves crawl out of their skin when gently squeezed. They add the sweetest nuttiness to the dish and bring all of the flavors together perfectly.

The other reason I've been thinking about garlic so much is because I read this super romantic quote about garlic from Anthony Bourdain's memoir "Kitchen Confidential" the other day. And there's nothing I love more than a twee description of food—the kind that transforms a lifeless commodity into a sentient thing, something to be honored, respected, and treated with loving care.

Part of the quote reads, "Garlic is divine. Few food items can taste so many distinct ways, handled correctly. Misuse of garlic is a crime. Old garlic, burnt garlic, garlic cut too long ago and garlic that has been tragically smashed through one of those abominations, the garlic press, are all disgusting. Please treat your garlic with respect … Nothing will permeate your food more irrevocably and irreparably than burnt or rancid garlic. Avoid at all costs that vile spew you see rotting in oil in screw-top jars. Too lazy to peel fresh? You don't deserve to eat garlic."

I'm sure many would disagree with some of those statements, but I'm more interested in the passion. I'm ready to learn how to love garlic the way it deserves to be loved. Because I want it to love me back. I want to care for it the best way that I can. So that it may never turn it into the bitter, sour, overpowering thing it can be when treated badly. Then, I want to use it in everything. I want to eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I want to make all kinds of dips, sauces, and spreads with it. I want to make this crispy roasted potato galette for Christmas, and I want to bring this buttery garlic crab bruschetta to every other holiday party I attend.