Handle With Care

Do you smash or mince your garlic when you cook? There's a difference?
You see garlic has volatile oils in it and when you crush that garlic the oils are released. As garlic's cell walls are smashed, its oils react with its natural enzymes, and the smell and taste become exceedingly strong. Is that a good thing? It might be if you are using the garlic right away because it will have a good strong flavour. But if these oils get on your hands it can be a bad thing because they become rancid and really stink.

When you mince or chop garlic, the oils aren't violently forced out but are left to slowly season your food as its cooks.

Who knew? So if you are using your garlic right away mince it tiny for salads and such. If you are cooking it a while you can leave it in bigger chunks.
As a rule, the more aggressively garlic is handled, the more aggressive and short-lived its flavour.


How Would I Use This

I don't talk about garlic very often, but I do find that everyone has their own method of preparing it. That last line, the more aggressively garlic is handled, the more aggressive and short-lived its flavour is food for thought.

There are times in life when we want an aggressive response from something or someone, but other times when we want to let people mellow to an idea. Knowing the secret in the set up, either with garlic or with people can make all the difference.