Posted: 24 Jan 2014 01:07 - David Lebovitz
Garlic
has a season, and depending on where you live, that season is usually spring
through mid-summer. In France, we get ail nouveau,
which are heads of garlic that are very plump and slightly soft, whose moist
skin is tinged with a bit of pink. As it ages, the garlic becomes more rosy in color,
and there is even a special “rose” garlic in France called ail rose de Lautrec,
whose status is certified by the French government. As the months progress,
garlic season ends and the remaining heads go into storage.
In France, garlic that has been kept
is often referred to as ail sec,
or dried garlic. And in many cases, during storage, those cloves of garlic will
develop a green germ inside that is said to be bitter and should be removed. I
know, because I’ve said that myself. But I’ve never really put it to the test.
So when a friend, who worked closely with Marcella Hazan (an
expert on Italian cuisine) told me that Marcella never removed the green germ
(her reasoning being that since it was new garlic in the making, it was tender
and not bitter), I figured it would be interesting to see – and taste – if
removing it really did make a difference.
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