Wednesday, Feb. 03, 2010

Garlic may be smelly, but it's oh so good for you

“A nickel will get you on the subway, but garlic will get you a seat!”

I think this old Yiddish saying is right on the money. I love the taste of garlic but, it tends to love me back — for days.

The odor of garlic has staying power and can linger in a person’s body long after it is ingested or the cut pieces are touched. Minced or pressed garlic smells much stronger than whole uncrushed cloves. In fact, it is only when garlic cloves are cut or crushed, and the cellular walls broken, that an odor-causing reaction takes place.

The garlic smell is produced when enzymes and a volatile sulfur-containing compound found in garlic mix together. These strong chemicals make their way undigested through our blood stream. They linger in our lung tissue, which in turn results in garlic breath.

The odor also has a way of coming out of our pores as we sweat (maybe garlic would be a good natural mosquito repellent). I read that even if you rubbed cut garlic on your foot, the odor would still end up in your breath. I have heard that eating a sprig of fresh parsley will help fight off the garlic odor, but from my experience, it offers only temporary relief. Time is the only true cure.

Cooking mellows and sweetens garlic’s characteristic strong, spicy flavor, transforming it into something savory and earthy. Once cooked, garlic infuses deep flavor into soups and sauces and pairs wonderfully with tomatoes, parsley, onions and ginger.

The natural sugars in garlic cause it to brown nicely. But do not let it burn because it will have a bitter flavor.

Baking mellows the garlic and brings out a nutty flavor. It is great to spread on bread and meats.

My husband’s family has a recipe for a pasta dish they call “Olli Gollie.” This easy-to-prepare sauce is made with a whole bulb of peeled, sliced garlic, which is then cooked in olive oil until golden brown. We add a quart of home-canned tomatoes to the garlic/oil mixture along with a sprinkle of sugar and salt and pepper to taste. A large can of your favorite chopped whole tomatoes with the juice can be substituted for the canned tomatoes. As the pasta cooks, I remove a big scoop of pasta water, add it to the simmering tomato/garlic mixture and let it simmer a little longer. The final sauce is light, tasty and full of flavor.

There are three major types of garlic available in the United States: the white-skinned, strongly flavored American garlic; Mexican and Italian garlics, both of which have mauve-colored skins and a somewhat milder flavor; and the gigantic white-skinned elephant garlic (which is not true garlic, but a relative of the leek), the most mildly flavored of the three.

Garlic is available year round, but is freshest between June through December. Look for firm dry heads when purchasing. Fresh, whole and unbroken garlic will keep for about two months when it is stored in a cool, dry, dark place.

When preparing garlic for cooking, remove any green sprouts from the center of the garlic clove, as the sprouts can add an unpleasant bitterness. Neither freezing nor drying garlic gives satisfactory results, but pickling or storing peeled cloves in wine or vinegar in the refrigerator will preserve the garlic for up to four months.