This post is about garlic. Why? Because it's delicious. Because if you have to ask, you're not eating the right type of garlic. Seriously. When Luis and I were dating I was very much a fan of the instant food. If it was quick and easy, I loved it. Of course, it helped that I was in college at the time and my cooking skills were not that great, and I was broke. So often when I fixed food it involved a lot of instant stuff. One of my favorites at the time was instant rice. I ate so much of that stuff. Luis hated (and still does) instant rice. The first time he ate it he responded "this isn't rice." Now I'd had real rice before, but usually in a Chinese restaurant, I'd never cooked real rice, so I always told him instant tastes just like real rice. So I continued to make instant rice and he continued to hate it. Until we got married and one of his relatives took pity on him and gave us a rice cooker. Now, lots of real rice! At first, when I cooked rice, I made instant rice and he made real rice in our rice cooker. Eventually, he showed me how to use the rice cooker and I started to use it and gradually stopped buying instant rice. Not too long ago we were at a friends house and they made rice, instant rice. After dinner was over, I looked at Luis and told him he was right, the instant rice is pretty gross in comparison to real rice. I was officially a convert.
I know I said this was about garlic, I'm getting there.
Again, due to the convenience of them, we always buy those little jars of minced garlic. They're already cut up for my convenience! All I have to do is measure how much I need! So easy! It tastes like garlic, right? That's what I thought. I've bought cloves of garlic before, even a garlic press (really have no idea what the purpose of those stupid things are), but usually all I end up with is a sticky mess that looks nothing like my nice uniform garlic in a jar. Not too long ago I read Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential in which he writes, "Garlic is divine. Few food items can taste so many distinct ways, handled correctly. Misuse of garlic is a crime. Old garlic, bunt garlic, garlic cut too long ago and garlic that has been tragically smashed through one of those abominations, the garlic press, are all disgusting. ... Avoid at all costs that vile spew you see rotting in oil in screw-top jars. Too lazy to peel fresh? You don't deserve to eat garlic." When I read that, I chuckled. It was funny how someone could feel so strongly about garlic. I'm pretty sure afterwards, we bought some bulbs and tried fresh garlic, but that never panned out. Soon we went back to our little jars.
Back to the great rice debate; when Luis and I started making rice, Luis called his mom for instruction on how to make rice: what to add and all that. She said to add garlic, fresh garlic. We, of course, didn't have any so we started using the stuff in a jar. Again, I told Luis, "it tastes the same." When Luis' mom came to town and was cooking, I swear when we handed her that jar of garlic she looked at it with such disdain. But we never cared enough to buy fresh garlic and peel it and attempt to dice it whilst ending up with a sticky mess.
Then, we joined a CSA. And now, almost every week when we pick up our veggies, there's fresh bulbs of garlic. We have a ton in our fridge that I've started adding to everything because we have so much. The first time we got garlic, I was sauteing some of the other veggies we got and decided to add some garlic. That was the most delicious tasting garlic I have ever had. It was amazing and full of flavor. Again, I looked at Luis and proclaimed that fresh garlic is so much better than that stuff in a jar! And now, I will never go back. When our CSA ends and we run out of garlic, I will not be returning to that nasty stuff in a jar. Not when I can get so much flavor out of those bulbs. Now, when I reach for the garlic, I grab a bulb of deliciousness and give that old jar that still hangs around in our fridge the evil eye. No thanks jar, you can keep your oil and rotting garlic because I officially join Anthony Bourdain by saying "Too lazy to peel fresh? You don't deserve to eat garlic."
*I realized that my biggest mistake when trying to cook fresh garlic was trying to emulate what I got in a jar: that perfect mince. Once I stopped trying to do that, it became easy to chop it up and add to everything!*
