Culinary Uses of Garlic

Culinary Uses of Garlic

Aside the health benefits of garlic, garlic is also known for its culinary uses.  Globally, it is used for its pungent smell and flavor as a seasoning in food.  The bulb of the plant is the most widely used part of the plant.  Garlic cloves are also use in cooking.  It can be consumed raw or cooked.  Many people prefer cooked cloves of garlic while some others prefer to it the garlic cloves raw.  They pungent smell and spicy flavor are utilized in cooking.  The leaves and flowers on the head can also be eaten but they flavour is less than that of the cloves.

The skin and root clusters of garlic are inedible and are rarely eaten.  In culinary uses, the protective layers of skin are discarded.  In most countries like Asia, Middle East, Southern Europe, Northern Africa, Western Africa, etc this plant is a component of many dishes.

The head of garlic can ferment at high temperature and this is used in some places in the production of a product known as black garlic.  Black garlic is a sweet syrupy.  Sweet syrupy is sold in market in various part of Europe and Asia.

Dishes like garlic bread, bruschetta, canape, garlic toast are made from garlic.

The Garlic cloves can be dried and grind to produce garlic powder.  This powder has different taste from the fresh one.  The garlic powder can be used to substitute the fresh garlic.  

What are the Culinary uses of Garlic?

• Garlic being crushed using a garlic press

• Garlic is widely used in most part of  the world for its pungent flavor as a seasoning.

• Garlic have a characteristic pungent, spicy flavor that mellows and sweetens considerably with cooking.

• Other parts of the garlic plant are also edible.

•  The leaves and flowers (bulbils) on the head (spathe) are sometimes eaten.

• Garlic is a fundamental component in many or most dishes of various regions, including eastern Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, northern Africa, southern Europe, and parts of South and Central America.

• The flavour of Garlic varies in intensity and aroma with the different cooking methods.

•  It is often paired with onion, tomato, or ginger. The parchment-like skin is much like the skin of an onion, and is typically removed before using in raw or cooked form. An alternative is to cut the top off the bulb, coat the cloves by dribbling olive oil (or other oil-based seasoning) over them, and roast them in an oven. Garlic softens and can be extracted from the cloves by squeezing the (root) end of the bulb, or individually by squeezing one end of the clove. 

• In Korea, heads of garlic are fermented at high temperature; the resulting product, called black garlic, is sweet and syrupy, and is now being sold in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia.

Health Benefits of Garlic  |  Culinary Uses of Garlic | What is Garlic