The Essence of Garlic

Want your house to smell like an Italian restaurant? Or a Mexican casa? Or the narrow streets of Chinatown? How about an Irish pub or Middle Eastern market? Here’s what you do: take a pan and set it atop a hot flame, pour some extra virgin olive oil into it, then take a bulb of garlic and bust out a clove.
Okay, maybe bust out ten cloves, then remove the skin (here‘s an easy way to remove the skin from a clove of garlic), chop, slice, dice, or just toss in the whole clove, and wait. In a few minutes your house will fill with the unmistakable aroma of garlic sautéing, and then, if your salivary glands are functioning properly, your mouth will water and then your brain will send a signal down to that mouth and instruct it to utter:

“Mmmmm, that smell! Whatcha cookin’?”

Garlic, a member of the onion family, has been around for thousands of years. It is a basic component in many dishes in just about every country on the planet. Being a lover of Italian cuisine (have you tried my mom‘s lasagna?), I am conditioned to carry gum or mints with me whenever I dine out due to the pungent aftertaste of garlic in most Italian cooking. Yes, garlic has a strong taste, smell, attitude. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, garlic’s sometimes overwhelming “attitude” is what makes is such a standout addition to not just Italian cooking, but as I mention earlier, just about all cooking. From spicy Mexican meals to stir-fry Asian fare, garlic mingles easily with tomatoes, ginger, onions, and my favorite, olive oil.

Still, some people shy away from this caustic clove, afraid that once ingested, or even touched, they will be forever labeled “Mr. Garlic Breath.” And while having a nickname that calls attention to foul smelling fumes emitting from your pie hole is not pleasant, it surely is not enough of a liability to keep you away from making garlic a part of your everyday dietary routine.

Here’s a video where I talk more about the benefits of garlic, as well as demonstrate an easy way to remove its skin:



The addition of garlic spices up marinara sauces, salsa, hummus, and hundreds of other dishes. It also has many health benefits and has been used for medicinal purposes for centuries. Among the claims:

* helps prevent heart disease
* lowers cholesterol and high blood pressure
* fights cancer
* combats the common cold
* regulates blood sugar levels
* works as an antiseptic

While the health benefits of garlic are not all medically proven or approved, one claim I’m sure we can all agree with is:

GARLIC KEEPS VAMPIRES AWAY!!

(and that’s a good thing!)

The next time you’re grocery shopping, grab a few bulbs of garlic and chop away. Sure, your hands and breath and hair and shirt and house and backyard and entire neighborhood will reek from garlic, but you will also, no doubt, have cooked up a tasty dinner that will make those same neighbors' mouths water and their brains send signals to those salivating mouths, inspiring them to utter:

“Mmmmm, that smell! Whatcha cookin’?”

Garlic.

Until next time…

peace,

Mike