From Shenanchie
Garlic is a staple of many dishes, and is perhaps
one of the most common savory recipe ingredients used all over the world.
Contrary to popular belief, garlic is not reserved for the Italians. The
smell and taste of garlic can be overwhelming, but the majority of people tend
to lavish the cloves in a variety of dishes. I use it liberally in spaghetti sauce, and I also make my own garlic butter. I sometimes buy garlic
pre-packaged and pre-minced in jars, but there is nothing comparable to fresh
garlic. I also use freshly chopped garlic in hamburger dishes, when frying pork
chops (throwing the pieces amongst the meat), and when I marinate steaks.
The uses for garlic can cover a lot of territory depending on how one cooks. This bit is my attempt to explain the different types of garlic, tips on peeling and using garlic, and a few good links to garlic-related web sites.
I certainly couldn't list all of the types and varieties of garlic here, but I have added some of the more well-known ones.
Article Contents:
Species & Varieties of Garlic
:Most of us are not aware that there are more than 400 types of garlic, falling under two separate species: hardneck and softneck. There is also elephant garlic, which is technically considered part of the leek family. There are five primary varieties of garlic known as Artichoke, Rocambole, Porcelain, Silverskin and Purple Stripe.
Hardneck:
This species is also known as stiffneck, Ophio Garlic, topsetting, and serpent. These garlic's are wilder than the softneck, and they produce a solid and stiff flower stalk that sometimes reaches a height of four feet. When the stalks are young, they can also be used for cooking in stir-fry dishes, but if the stalks are left on the plant, they produce a capsule that contains up to 150 aerial bulbs that are the size of popcorn kernels. These bulbs can be grown for another year, resulting in a clove-sized garlic that can also be planted again to produce a larger bulb the following harvest. Hardneck's also have an elongated and symmetrical shape.
Some of the varieties of garlic categorized under the hardneck species include:
Asian Tempest (the cloves overlap one another, with a slight purple color to them, and are considered perfect for roasting - the clove beaks can sometimes reach 18" in length); Korean Red (a large bulb with 4 to 8 large cloves, with striped purple skins and easy to peel - but very spicy-hot).Artichoke:
Porcelain: Brown Rose (fat cloves with rose-brown hues and streaks); Brown Tempest (with a purple bulb, rose-brown cloves and mellow when cooked); Georgian Crystal (large white bulbs with light brown and red-streaked skins); Georgian Fire (similar to Georgian Crystal, but with a spicy hot flavor); German Porcelain (large bulb, easy to peel, with skins purple-splashed); Metechi (firm bulbs with large cloves and thick, blush-colored skins); Music (white-skinned with a pink blush); Pennsylvania Dutch (red highlights and streaked skins - very spicy hot); Siberian (large bulbs and dark brown cloves); Wildfire (hot and strong, with 5 to 8 cloves per bulb); and Zemo (this garlic contains a small number of large cloves, with a strong flavor and is considered best for roasting).
Purple Stripe: Chesnok Red (pictured at right, this variety is white with purple striping and is considered best for cooking because it holds it's shape).
Rocambole: Carpathian (originally from Poland, this garlic is very strong in flavor, as well as spicy-hot); German Red (a strong and spicy garlic with light brown cloves with a touch of purple at their bases); and Spanish Roja (easy to peel with a strong flavor and dark brown to red color).
Silverskin:
Burgundy (the cloves of this garlic are rather small, with a mild
flavor and a slight undertone of heat, and are pinkish in color with the
cloves themselves a red color with streaking); Nootka Rose (with
medium to large bulbs, strong flavor and a streaked red skin); and
Silver Rose (pictured at right, rose-colored cloves, with smooth,
white bulbs).
Softneck:
Softneck garlic is also known as Allium sativum sativum (Latin for "domesticated" or "cultivated"), and are thought to have evolved under cultivation from the hardneck garlic's. Softneck garlic's typically yield bigger bulbs than hardneck's, however, as well as larger bulbs. Softneck's have large leaves and do not grow a big stalk, shuttling more growing energy into the bulbs themselves. The actual bulbs are large and heavy, but lumpy as not as highly colored as the hardneck's. Softneck's also have a higher clove count per bulb, ranging from 18 to 40, and the cloves are arranged in layers. They are more difficult to peel.
A few softneck garlic varieties are:
Artichoke: California Early (typically found in grocery stores, this garlic works well in most recipe preparations and has a white skin and yellowish clove); Dixon (a large type); Early Italian (with a large, white-skinned bulb); Italian Late (a light-colored skin with plump, round cloves); Inchelim Red (a mild but hot flavor, with large bulbs); Japanese (5 to 7 large cloves, similar to elephant garlic, with tan cloves); Machasi (flat, uniformed bulbs with initial hot flare); Polish White (also known as New York white, with over-large bulb with 10 to 13 cloves); and Simoneti (large bulb with pink cloves).
Silverskin: Nichol's Silverskin (the whitest of all Silverskin types); and Silver White (with a large bulb).
Elephant Garlic: This "type" of garlic is actually part of the leek family, and is marked by it's large bulbs and mellow flavor. The bulb can exceed 6" in diameter and weigh a pound each containing 4 to 6 cloves that can grow to be 4" tall by 1" across. Although large, the taste of elephant garlic is rather mild and is excellent when used in stir-fry dishes, in salad dressings and roasted whole. When roasted, the elephant garlic produces a smooth-textured paste with very little garlic tang.
Peeling Tips:
When I cook, I usually purchase the grocery variety of garlic. I am forever frustrated by the sticky skin and the little bits that cling to the garlic and my fingers. Several years ago, I found a method for removing the outer skins that proved to be quite effective (I call it my "smashing" method). Using a large knife, press the flat side down on the garlic clove, placing pressure on the flat blade with the palm-heel of your other hand. Giving it a good whack works well, too. The skins come loose and are easy to peel, and not as much of the sticky skin clings to you or the knife. It really works.
Another way to
peel the garlic is to take a head of garlic with many cloves. Pull the
cloves apart with your fingers before peeling the skins off and crushing
them. This works, but is not as easy and effective as my "smashing" method.
Once you have successfully peeled the garlic cloves, they can be finely
minced, sliced or chopped for use in recipes. But the most common method of
preparing garlic for use is to place it in a garlic press, squeezing the
handles together so that the garlic flesh will be forced out through the
holes in the press grill. This might be fine for most people, but I have
always disliked using the garlic press because it's a mess, and you lose a
lot of the garlic in the press grill.
Garlic Uses:
Once minced or finely chopped, garlic can be used in a variety of ways. The most obvious is adding it to dishes that call for garlic such as sauces, meats, soups and salads. I like to make garlic butter ahead of time, and this is great for spreading on bread or French bread for broiling. You can also try mincing the garlic and keeping it in a small jar in the refrigerator similar to the brands purchased in the grocery store, but garlic prepared this way does not keep for very long and needs to be used within a few weeks before turning rancid.
Note: It is not recommended to store garlic in oil for long periods of time as the oil can become toxic. More about this from Walton Feed:
:Refrigerate, Refigerate. Refrigerate and use quickly.
It is a practice with some of us who want garlic immediately handy for cooking, to peel and store it in oil. Garlic is a low acid vegetable, so it needs to be acidified to prevent the growth of micro-organisms and especially to prevent the formation of botulism toxin. Acid treatment also prolongs the quality of garlic and prevents browning. The method is as follows:
Cover peeled garlic cloves with vinegar and soak the cloves for 12 to 24 hours. Drain off the vinegar. It can be reused as garlic-flavored vinegar. Cover the garlic cloves with oil. Refrigerate the jar of garlic and oil, and use it within 3 months. (Source of this information is Dr. George York, the University of California at Davis.)
Roasting is a wonderful way of bringing out the natural flavors of garlic. It also softens the cloves to a smooth, spreadable texture. Individual cloves can be roasted in olive oil which further adds to the flavor. Cut off the top third of the clove saving it for another use such as garlic butter, and rub the head of garlic with olive oil, placing it on a sheet of aluminum foil. Drizzle on a bit more olive oil, and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper, topping with a thin slice of butter. Seal the foil, and roast the garlic in a 400-degree oven until the garlic is soft, about 45 minutes. This preparation can sometimes be served whole, or added to pasta sauces when mashed into more olive oil and butter. Roasted garlic can also be used in salad dressings, and I have provided a recipe of a dressing I found several years ago:
:3/4 C mayonnaise or salad dressing
1/4 C sour cream
2 tsp. white vinegar
1/4 tsp. dry mustard
1/4 tsp. dried basil
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
6 cloves of roasted garlic, finely minced
2 TBS milk or cream
In a mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients, stirring until the mixture is smooth. Cover and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Makes 1 cup (sixteen 1 tablespoon servings).
There are several good web sites with information about garlic, but a few of the better sites are:
Never Trust Anyone Who Doesn't Like Garlic
While I certainly did not cover every type and variety of garlic, I hope I was able to offer just a bit more insight into the wonderful world of garlic. I avoided adding a section about the health benefits of garlic because I wanted this piece to focus on the different types of garlic and tips for using it, and not be sidetracked by the many scientific aspects of the subject. However, if you go to the Garlic Links section of this article, you will find a couple of listings for web sites all about the health benefits of using garlic.
Enjoy your garlic and don't forget your mints!
©2002 Appetizing Muse
You are free to use the material in this article as reference, but if you happen to use direct wording from this piece, I would appreciate the credit. Thank you.
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