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

...each clove individually wrapped.

Any other examples where nature does it better?

Banana - The first ready-packed take-away food.

MMF

If garlic was properly designed it would be easier to remove the peel without resulting in garlicky hands or sending cloves shooting all over the kitchen while trying to squash them under a knife blade.

B

A wholesaler recently tried to supply bananas
already peeled and wrapped in clear plastic.

The 'thinking' (if there was any thinking) must
have been two-fold. First, it allowed the customer
to inspect the inner-banana for flaws and secondly
it matched almost everything else in the produce
section - being shrink-wrapped in a 'hygenic' seal.

Problem was of course you can't improve on nature's
packaging and plastic makes them rot really quickly.

The idea lasted about as long as the job of the guy
who came up with the idea. IE, too long.


~jwf~

You don't need to hit cloves *that* hard, Mu. It's all in the mind. Be gentle, but assertive.

Or get a rubberised tube.

I just cut off the top, leaving a small 'chad' attached, which when peeled back, removes most of the skin. Cutting off the base, doing the same, finishes the job.

MMF

I take the lazy way out. I buy jars of garlic powder.

Nature has some great designs. Walnuts and pecans and almonds are protected by shells. Apples and pears have skin that protects the interiors from damage. Beans and peas are protected by pods. Pumpkins have a sturdy rind that protects the flesh, while the very interior consists of seeds protected by husks.

Oranges (and related) have sectioned areas inside.
Not as fully compartmentalised as garlic but similar.
Dates also have a sectional 'contingency'. No doubt
they were all relatives back when Gertie the dinosaur
was lunching on the forests of Eden and men were mice.

~jwf~

I'm not sure the orange is better than our attempt at the design. It's often fiddly to peel.

The Chocolate Orange also comes in segments, and it's designed to break into those if you give it a sharp tap.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/Terrys-Chocolate-Orange.jpg/300px-Terrys-Chocolate-Orange.jpg

I've seen the shape of a bananananana used to "prove" intelligent design. Something about it pointing towards the mouth....

Personally, I find a whole bananananana is just too much, so the intelligence of the designer was somewhat lacking on that front.

Pomegranates are dashed fiddly to extract the juicy bits from, and pretty messy too.

But celery is clearly designed with a hollw centre for filling with peanut butter, cream cheese etc.

Yea, a lot of American Evangelicals, such as Kirk Cameron (because who better than a has-been child actor to tell you about the evils of evolutionary science), like to throw out silly like that to prove I.D. I like to counter with a quote from U42 . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-tC9MU852k


Oh, also, you're probably peeling your bananas the *wrong* way: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBJV56WUDng

Baron Grim, that banana video just changed my life!

Y.

I've been evangelizing on the proper method of 'naner peeling for quite some time now.

I'm a Proper Nana Peeler myself.

Occasionally people tell me I'm doing it wrong, and then the education begins.

Garlic is NOT well designed. The Slap Chop is...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWRyj5cHIQA

I bought one on the strength not of the original advert, but on the catchiness of that rap. They don't ship overseas, so I had to get a fellow hootooer who lives in the US to get one for me and send it on (thanks MoG!). I *really* wanted one. And you know what? It's great.

Can't take your garlic cloves whole, then?

I must pluck up the courage, one day, to open the jar of pickled whole garlic cloves I made, about six years ago... I forgot about them, and worry they may be a bit strong by now... it was a mixed selection, with chili peppers, onions, garlic, and as many spices as I could find thrown in... I fear it could be dangerous though, after this length of time Or, just very tasty

I ate a slice of pickled onion, pickled with habanero that had sat too long in the fridge.



I don't believe I've ever ate anything hotter than that. It was tough keeping a straight face.

Incidentally, the Isle of Wight Garlic Festival is on the 17th & 18th August next year.

<BB<

Crush the unpeeled garlic clove with the flat of a large knife.One quick thump will crush the garlic and loosen the peel.

Easy Peasy.