26
JAN/FEB 2015
k
Fran rt
Kou
For the Love of Garlic
Pungent bulb has become the stuff of legend
Ah, the wonders of garlic.
Whatever would good cooks
the world over do without this
sometimes subtle, sometimes
brash and always flavorful bulb?
A member of the onion family, garlic is
an important part of virtually every major
cuisine of the world. Most Frenchmen
would sooner dump the Mona Lisa into the
Seine than give up garlic. The Chinese revere
dishes such as garlic chicken. What Spaniard
would substitute anything for garlic in her
beloved paella? And the list goes on. Even
the culinarily challenged British use garlic in
their cooking sometimes.
Through the centuries, garlic has attracted
attention and even become legend. After all,
what better way to keep vampires at bay than
garlic? How about garlic as an aphrodisiac?
In many cultures, including Chinese, Indian
and Japanese, garlic was considered an
elixir of love. (Just make sure both partners
partake, or it’s likely to have the opposite
effect of that which was intended.) Even
today, people not only eat garlic, they also
take it in the form of dietary supplements
to prevent everything from stroke and heart
disease to cancer.
Perhaps one of the most interesting
properties of garlic is that the more you
do to it, the stronger and more pungent it
becomes. If, for example, you roast garlic
still in its skin, as in the classic Chicken with
40 Cloves of Garlic dish (below), the
result is a relatively mild-tasting entrée,
considering the amount of garlic.
On the other hand, if you’re planning
to impart all of garlic’s distinct flavor and
aroma in a dish, you will peel and crush
it, releasing its full power. There are a
number of devices to help you do that.
Keeping a good garlic press on hand is
not a bad idea, but I’ve learned over the
years crushing a clove or two beneath my
trusty French chef’s knife usually does
the trick.
Should you find a clove or two of
your garlic head is growing green shoots,
rejoice. Bury the clove in your garden
with the head sticking up and you’ll soon
be able to harvest garlic shoots, which
will give your cooking a delicate taste
with a garlic accent.
A product such as garlic salt has its
place in every good cook’s kitchen, since
it’s great to use for anointing a roast or
sprinkling over steaks, but it’s almost
always advisable to buy and use fresh
garlic in whatever you’re preparing.
Purchase firm, healthy-looking bulbs.
Separating the cloves from the head is
simple. Just place the flat end of a large
chef’s knife over it and give it a solid
whack. The cloves will come free. To
peel individual cloves, use the same trick.
Place the flat of the knife over the clove,
give it a smart whack and the skin will
easily peel off.
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CHICKEN WITH 40
CLOVES OF GARLIC
• One 3-4 pound chicken
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 tsp. sage
• 1 tsp. thyme
• 1 tsp. parsley
• 1 tsp. rosemary
• 1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 40 cloves garlic, unpeeled
• 4 stalks celery, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup dry vermouth
• Olive oil
Sauté the celery in a little olive oil for
about five minutes, then use it to line
the bottom of a casserole. Combine
lemon juice and spices with 1 tsp. olive
oil and rub all over the chicken. Place the
chicken atop the celery, distribute the
garlic and pour the vermouth into the
casserole. Spread aluminum foil over the
top of the casserole, then put the cover
on, making certain the dish is covered as
tightly as possible. Bake in a 375-degree
oven for an hour and a half. Transfer the
chicken to a platter. To serve the resulting
roasted garlic, provide toast squares,
squeeze the cloves onto the toast and
spread it.