SC - Peeling garlic and chopping onions

[Elaine Koogler]

> Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2000 11:59:42 -0400
> From: "Casey  O'Donovan" <DO26 at cornell.edu>
> Subject: Re: SC - Peeling garlic and chopping onions
> 
> Greetings,
> 
> A good solution to the garlic issue is to purchase it pre processed. A good food
> purveyor should be able to provide you with garlic, processed in many forms and
> sizes. Often chopped garlic comes in oil or water and you can then portion it
> out as you see fit. The cost is more that buying the cloves yourself and
> processing them, but you make up for the cost with the time that you save.

Ordinarily I'm a big fan of time-saving conveniences "all other things
being equal"...

However, in the case of the bottled garlic, for my purposes it would
depend on the usage. To me, it does taste of the citric acid and/or
other preservatives added, and also tastes slightly cooked, presumably
because, well, it is. There might be some uses for such a product, say,
a red-wine marinade for beef, or the Colored Garlic Sauce in Platina,
both of which are somewhat acidic and cooked, but I wouldn't use it for
everything I'd use fresh garlic for.

On the other hand, I can wholeheartedly recommend the nifty jars of
peeled garlic cloves, usually about a gallon size, that I sometimes see
in restaurant supply and wholesale stores. They're raw, or maybe
pasteurized, but definitely not as cooked and soft as the chopped stuff
in the little jars. Then, of course, you still have to chop it, so it
has its disadvantages, too. But I always buy a jar for making garlic
confit for Christmas, a wonderful and childishly simple preparation that
never fails to please garlic lovers.

Adamantius 
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com