h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Peeling and Pressing Garlic - A3893457
Author: Mikey the Humming Mouse - A1355195 Hitchhike your way into the Edited Guide! - U99875

Garlic! :D

My mom assumes I have that "innate body of garlic knowlege" - now I know what to do with the garlic press she bought me! Thanks!

I used to use garlic salt until I looked at the ingredients and discovered there is actually more salt than garlic in it
Now I use a garlic press and its much better

Nice idea for an entry Mikey

There are lots of mentions of 'papery stuff', 'papery skin' and 'papery bits' which get a bit repetetive after a while, but I can't think of anything else to call it right now

"bulby bit"
Why not just call it what it's called in all the cookbooks - 'clove'?

"The part of the garlic you want is the cloves, which are hidden underneath"
You're playing hard and fast with singulars and plurals there Mikey

"If you're used to vegetables that stick together a little better"
Are there many other vegetables that are built like a head of garlic and 'stick together'? I can't think of one of the top of my... you know

As far as the actual peeling is concerned, most people I know slough off some of the paper, then use one of two methods to get the actual skin of the garlic clove off (the skin itself is usually not very papery and can actually be quite tough, and I think your description is missing an important part in not mentioning the skin). They either trim both ends of the clove and use a paring knife to peel off the skin, or they flatten the clove under the blade of a knife or cleaver, which releases the skin from the clove and is by far the easiest way to peel a clove of garlic.

There must be some 'cooks secrets' method of ridding your hands of the smell of garlic? In fact I'm sure there is, but I can't bring it to mind right now. Maybe a Google search? You're the Researcher, I'll leave you to research that bit.

Garlic presses are one of the most difficult kitchen gadgets to clean, but the ones that have little spikes on the back of the plunger to push the garlic remnants out of the holes are the best to get and definitely worth mentioning.

How about linking to pictures of a head of garlic and a garlic press? Not all garlic press pictures are on commercial websites: http://www.all-creatures.org/recipes/u-garlicpress.html for instance.

And here are some pages with pictures of garlic:
http://www.acefitness.org/fitfacts/fitbits_display.cfm?itemid=225
http://www.sciencenews.org/pages/sn_arc98/5_23_98/food.htm
http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/garlic.htm

I have to second almost all of what Oo..Oojakapiv...said.

Also I reckon it might be worth mentioning that chopping garlic isn't *that* difficult. I do it by crushing the clove with the flat of my knife-blade and then chopping the squashed clove vertically into little bits. Chopped garlic also has a better taste than crushed...I couldn't say why though but apparently it does.

Oh perhaps it would be a good idea to advise washing your garlic crusher(what's everyone else calling it? A garlic press?) straight after using it? My mam ALWAYS seems to leave it lying around with left-over bits of garlic in, then they dry in there, and then when I come to wash up I have to scrape it all out and

Oh did you mention the thingy on the back which pushes back through the holes? I can't remember if you did..but not all of them have that, even though your's does Some of them just have...handle there!

*gets out garlic to remind Mikey to look at papery bits and work out what that last bit of skin that you have to actually *peel* off might be called so that pedantic Oojakapic and Kat are satisfied*

A very good entry on a subject dear to my heart!

I didn't know about combined peelers / crushers but will seek one out post haste. I would third the comments made above though, and emphasise the need to trim the hard bit off the bottom of the clove with a knife to make peeling easier. I have also heard that chopped garlic tastes better and is better for you than crushed - although this could be a myth.

Perhaps you could mention tubes of garlic puree in the list at the bottom. I buy these by the cartonful.

Very good, I've never used a garlic press/crusher myself, I always chop it as I too have also heard somewhere that it is better chopped, and besides, chopping it means you've not a yucky press to clean out later I find the easiest way to peel the actual skin on the clove, is to cut off the 'hard bit' at the top end of the garlic; but not* all the way down, then peel this off taking the skin all off the side that it is still slightly attached by, then a finger nail can pull down from the end where the 'hard bit' was, for the other 'sides' of the clove, then at the 'other end' of the clove, (where it sprouts from if its hanging about in the kitchen too long), a quick squeeze (not too hard), between thum and forefinger, loostens any skin left at that end, and a twist and it coems off Never knew there were 'devices' for peeling it Good article

How about a health warning - "do not be tempted to pick nose or scratch eye during any of the processes listed below"

More comments when I get a chance. Handy wee entry by the look of it, although normally I just bash it up a bit with something hard.

Ok, I've read it a bit more closely now. The first thing that struck me was all the papery references - but that's been mentioned. 'Bulby bit' seems a bit recurrent too

One thing I'd like to see is a link to a few garlic recipes - say garlic bread, or how to make your own garlic butter, stuff like that. (Probably best to have a couple where garlic is one major of the major ingredients, rather than something like a pasta sauce with 20 ingredients, including a clove of garlic somewhere along the line )

Some piece of received wisdom I have is that if you are crushing your garlic (either in a press or by *another method) you should do so immediately before adding it to the pot/pan/whatever so that it doesn't dry out and lose it's essential oils.

*another method of getting a paste if you dont have a press is to crush the garlic as best you can, I usually use the flat of my knife but any blunt object will be suitable, chop it as small as you can and then put a little salt on your chopping board. Not more than you would use for seasoning, and don't add any more to the dish before you check how seasoned it is. You then rub the chopped garlic across the salty bit - you can scrape it with the side of your knife. The abrasiveness of the grains of salt in combination with the scraping result in a paste. This is a bit of a faff (I usually can't be bothered as finely chopped will do for most recipes) but worth it if you specifically need a paste.

k

Have to agree with His Majesty about the health warning

Ok, I will work on adding in and changing these bits and pieces. The parts that are more about garlic in general I will probably leave out, though -- we already have EG entries on garlic in general, and on garlic presses in general, etc.

I do want this entry to remain, as much as possible, focused on the stuff that someone who is just beginning to use raw garlic would need to know, rather than loads of detail on what is best, from a culinary perspective. Do you think it would help if I changed the title to "Peeling and Pressing - Raw Garlic for Beginners"?

Also, on the nomenclature aspect -- does the word 'clove' refer to the entire bulby bit (including the white papery stuff), or just the yellow bit that you actually cook with? I've heard and read both, so wasn't sure.

As far as I'm aware, a head (or bulb) of garlic is made up of individual cloves, and they're called cloves whether they're peeled or not. And I know what I'm talking about - I watch a lot of Food TV

You might want to look out for the Good Eats show about garlic next time it comes around, or read this if not http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/Season4/Garlic/GarlicTranscript.htm

Alton Brown is a god amongst men

OK, I believe I've sorted out the terminology issue, if people want to take another look. I think I've taken into account as many of the comments above as I can, but let me know if there are things that you think still need addressing.

I don't think you can describe a clove as a 'seed'. Will need to think a bit more to come up with an alternative suggestion though - off to bed for me

The cloves are definitely not garlic seeds - I believe garlic seeds are very small and black.

I'm still curious to know what vegetables you have in mind here "If you're used to vegetables that stick together a little better".

The paragraph that begins "Now that you're ready" still isn't telling the whole story. I don't think I've ever been able to peel a clove of garlic entirely down to the meat simply by continuing to "keep pulling". At some point you'll get down to the actual skin of the clove which cannot easily be removed without the aid of a knife or at least a long fingernail.

Apparently, rubbing your hands on chrome removes garlic smell... or was it stainless steel?

odor - odour

In the interests of providing h2g2 with the best possible content, why not mention the garlic peeling method that so many professional cooks recommend - lightly crushing the clove with the blade of a knife which is by far the simplest way of removing the skin.

Whatever the metal is that's supposed to remove the smell, I've tried it, and Kat can attest that it just leaves my hands smelling of metal -- not odorless.

You can plant cloves and get new garlic from them, doesn't that make them seeds?

I've added a bit about removing that last bit of skin, although you can still press it and cook without removing it.

> I'm still curious to know what vegetables you have in mind here "If
> you're used to vegetables that stick together a little better".

Hmmm... potatoes, squash, many types of onions, even most peppers -- they're all more difficult to pull apart by hand than a head of garlic.

If you want me to include that garlic peeling method, you'll need to describe a little more fully -- I don't understand how I would do it, so I can't really write about it.

Not being a botanist I can't give you the scientific definition of a seed, but as best as I can explain, seeds come from pollinated flowers - they're plant embryos and are the result of sexual reproduction. However, you can cut pieces off plants (cuttings), stick them in the ground, and they'll grow, and you can pull bits off plants (like pulling apart a many-headed cactus) and get new plants - that doesn't make them seeds. You can grow onions from bulbs or from seeds, but that doesn't make the bulbs seeds.

"Hmmm... potatoes, squash, many types of onions, even most peppers -- they're all more difficult to pull apart by hand than a head of garlic."
Well, when you say "If you're used to vegetables that stick together a little better", I'm not thinking about peeling - I'm getting a picture of vegetables that come clumped together like a head of garlic. I've never tried pull apart a potato by hand and it would never occur to me to do so, so the comparison between garlic and most other vegetables in that respect isn't there. Very few, if any, vegetables are pulled apart - most are peeled or cut up with a knife. The artichoke is one I can think of which *is* mostly pulled apart, but I wonder how many of us have ever tackled one of those? And if this is a guide for people who haven't even peeled garlic yet, I doubt they'll be used to dealing with artichokes.

"it just leaves my hands smelling of metal -- not odorless"
Where in here "Apparently, rubbing your hands on chrome removes garlic smell... or was it stainless steel?" did I say 'odourless'?

Peeling garlic by crushing:
Take a clove of garlic. Rub off most off the papery skin then put the clove on your chopping board or whatever flat surface you use and gently crush it with the blade of a knife. the remaining papery bits plus the skin will easily pull away from the meat of the clove. Then you can chop up the clove as required or use it as is. Obviously this method can't be used if you need whole cloves.

Great bit of writing you got here. I was gonna suggest something about how easily roasted garlic can be peeled (in fact, the skin just rubs off), but then I saw that it's an entry on raw garlic, and stopped myself.

The closest thing I can think of to describe a clove of garlic is that it's an individual section of the bulb. Perhaps you could say that the bulb is 'divided' into individual sections called cloves?

" Where in here "Apparently, rubbing your hands on chrome removes garlic smell... or was it stainless steel?" did I say 'odourless'? "

I didn't say that you had -- but although I already had a bit in the entry explaining that the various products designed to remove garlic odors actually just cover them up with something else, you posted at least twice wanting me to mention the specific product. I've tried it, and it doesn't make my hands smell any better, so why would I recommend people use it?

And ok, I'll remove the bit about the pulling it apart -- it's entirely possible that it was just me, and no one else out there will end up flying across the kitchen.