Garlic
Allium sativum · new season garlic (fresh, uncured, milder) · black garlic (fermented, sweet)
Garlic is perhaps the single most ubiquitous aromatic in world cooking — present in some form in the kitchens of Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas. When a clove is crushed, an enzymatic reaction converts alliin to allicin, the compound responsible for its sharp, pungent raw character. Heat destroys allicin rapidly, which is why lightly cooked garlic is aromatic and sweet while raw garlic is piercing. This transformation — from raw aggression to mellow sweetness — is unique to alliums and endlessly useful.
Raw: sharp, pungent, almost aggressively sulphurous. Lightly cooked: aromatic, sweetly savoury, floral. Long-roasted: deeply sweet and mellow, almost caramel-like. Black (fermented) garlic: tangy-sweet with no pungency whatsoever.
Firm raw, compressing to a paste when minced. Becomes completely soft with long cooking. Roasted whole cloves squeeze from their skins like paste.
Whole bulbs in a cool, dry, dark place with good air circulation. Do not refrigerate — cold destroys the flavour compounds. Peeled cloves can be refrigerated in oil for up to 1 week. Never store garlic in oil at room temperature (botulism risk).
Peel individual cloves. Lightly crush with the flat of a knife to loosen the skin. For slicing: thin, even slices cook evenly. For mincing: crush and chop finely. For roasting whole: remove the top of the bulb, drizzle with oil, wrap in foil, roast at 180°C for 45 minutes until completely soft. For raw use: grate on a fine grater for maximum intensity.