: How to cook with garlic and how to use in cooking and salads I like the taste of Garlic, can anyone tell me how to use it please? can you use it in salad or cooking like stew or pasta ECT ? Please help. thanks Trev

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You can use garlic in almost anything, (except most people don't care for it in desserts).

Fresh garlic comes from the ground, or the store, in the form of a bulb composed of many (15-30?) smaller sections called "cloves". The cloves are each enclosed tightly in a thin shell/skin and the whole bulb is surrounded by many layers of a papery wrapping. The shells & paper need to be removed before you use the garlic. You can get a little item called a garlic peeler made of a silicone sleeve to rub the cloves with and it will take the skin off nice & easy. I don't have one, and peeling the cloves with a knife can be a little bit labor intensive and annoying.

Once you get the peeled cloves, you can use them many ways, either raw or cooked. Raw garlic retains its sharp pungency which is mellowed and sweetened a bit when you cook the garlic. The important thing to know is that garlic can burn easily, quickly, and suddenly (especially if it is chopped up fine and sauteed). I guess some people like that taste, but it is very sulfurous, strong, and different from raw or gently cooked garlic.

Some recipes call for garlic cloves to be included whole. Others say to slice. Very often you are asked to chop the garlic up fine or mince it, or you can even smash it in a little hand held garlic press. For salads, some people like just to rub the inside of the (wooden) salad bowl with a clove of garlic to impart a subtle hint of flavor to the salad.

If you want large quantities, you can also buy garlic which has been pre-processed in some way: Peeled whole cloves (but I think you have to buy a lot if you get those), pre-minced garlic or even garlic paste. I think the pre-minced or paste has a different taste, and not as nice as when you cut up the whole cloves yourself.

Just about every cuisine around uses garlic, and there are plenty of available recipes to follow.