Garlic, Is Not Just For Vampires Anymore

It has been the reviled ingredient that ruins the breath of its consumer, often causing their love interest to cower away in disgust, nose pinched and eyes flooding with tears. It has been strung around many a supple neck to ward off vampires. It has been associated with Italian cooking for centuries, though Egyptians were often buried with it in their tombs long before Molto Mario was fondling the bulbs gently on The Food Network. It is bitter like Rachel Maddow or Keith Olbermann.

It mellows like Bob Marley when gently toasted or roasted. It goes with anything. It is garlic and this is its story.

It has had bit parts in Greek tragedies, fed to warring soldiers before battle for strength, been part of Egyptian burial urns found thousands of years later and of course, sliced and sautéed.

Heart disease, liver issues and performance issues all apparently get the “workover” by garlic’s curative powers. Blood is cleaned, lungs cleared, male “performance” issues solved. Garlic appears to do it all.

Shunned by America for most of the 17, 18 and 19th centuries, garlic finally gained a foothold in America as immigration increased. Polish, German and Italian immigrants brought Old World dishes that were useless without the bulb.  Sauces that once substituted onion, a distant allium relative, in place of garlic, were finally prepared the way they were done in the Old World as garlic was finally put back into place.

While America was now reveling in garlic and its flavors, old school Europe has made garlic a star for centuries. Bruschetta had garlic chopped into it, sauces had hints of garlic and Spain had garlic soup, a rich brew that incorporated garlic as the star.

And while cooked is the typical way garlic is used, other cooking uses of it in the raw are just as common. Left raw and pickled, the once pungent bulb is mellowed and softened with its ferocity of flavor gently blended with the pickling brine.  It is chopped raw and added to tomatoes for bruschetta. And some purists simply pop it into their mouths raw. That explains why they were dateless for prom.

The supermarket usually has one or two varieties of garlic for the home cook, but in the world there are over 600 cultivated sub-species.  A selected sampling follows:

–Purple Strip Garlic- hard neck species that have deep purple stripes. Rich in flavor but not overly pungent.

–Artichoke Garlic- soft neck variety most seen in supermarkets. More pungent.

–Silverskin Garlic- fragile skinned and used in garlic braids. Smaller than artichoke variety.

–Creole Garlic- rosy colored and very flavorful. Retain flavor well in cooking.

–Porcelain Garlic- rich white skin, large well-developed bulbs.  Rich flavor, blunted slightly by cooking. Does not store well.

Those are a few of the easier to find garlics in the US. They can be special ordered or found at boutique farmers markets. Each has it own distinct flavor and while some can be interchanged, loss of depth during cooking make some species better served raw.

Below is a riff on a Spanish style garlic soup. Traditions vary in Spain, some using stale bread as a thickener and others a lot more garlic. This has a nice balance and flavor. Optional garnishes are a small shot of extra virgin olive across the serving for a luster and bit more depth of flavor, croutons or parsley chopped and sprinkled on top.

Garlic Soup with Parmesan

30 garlic cloves (unpeeled), the artichoke or purple strip variety work fine
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cups sliced onions
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
20 medium sized garlic cloves, peeled
3 cups chicken stock or canned chicken broth
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 2 ounces)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place unpeeled garlic cloves in small baking dish. Add 2 tbsp olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover dish tightly with foil and bake until garlic is golden brown and tender, about 35-45 minutes. Allow time to cool. Squeeze garlic between fingertips to release cloves from the peels, transfer all to a small bowl.

Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and thyme and cook until onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Add roasted garlic and raw garlic cloves and cook 5 minutes. Add stock, cover and simmer until garlic is very tender, about 30 minutes. Using either a sauce baton or a Cuisinart, purée soup in blender until smooth. Return soup into saucepan; add cream and simmer for a few more minutes. Do not boil. Season with kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper. Serve hot. Warm crusty bread should be served on the side.

Divide grated cheese and sprinkle evenly among bowls and ladle soup over. Squeeze 1 lemon wedge into each bowl and serve. A crisp white wine served with it is a great compliment.

–Tim Connors, Red Editorial Staff