[0 - 1] - I'm Frank Proto, a chef instructor
[1 - 3] at the Institute of Culinary Education,
[3 - 6] and this is every way to cut garlic.
[6 - 9] I'm talking chopping, slicing,
[9 - 11] grating, mincing, smashing, pressing,
[11 - 12] and even some more.
[14 - 15] Welcome to "Garlic 101".
[18 - 22] So garlic, in the culinary world, is used as an aromatic.
[22 - 24] We mainly use it as a flavor enhancer.
[24 - 26] How you handle it and how you cut it is gonna make
[26 - 28] all the difference on how much flavor
[28 - 29] you get out of your garlic.
[29 - 32] This is a bulb of garlic, if you haven't seen one before.
[32 - 35] I like to pick garlic bulbs that are really firm.
[35 - 36] If it feels really light and spongy,
[36 - 38] that means it's starting to grow,
[38 - 40] and you'll start to see little green sprouts.
[40 - 41] So basically that flavor that's
[41 - 43] in the garlic is disappearing
[43 - 45] and it's giving its energy to the sprouts.
[45 - 47] You can use garlic that's starting to sprout.
[47 - 48] It's just gonna be a little muted.
[48 - 49] It's not gonna be as strong.
[49 - 55] So heavy for its size, nice and firm. [quirky music]
[55 - 57] Before you cut your garlic, you gotta peel it,
[57 - 58] and this is how I do it.
[58 - 60] I like to rest it on a counter,
[60 - 63] get the palm of my hand, put my body weight on it.
[64 - 66] You're doing a little garlic CPR,
[66 - 68] and then you get your cloves that are nice
[68 - 69] and free from the heft.
[69 - 72] From this point, we have to peel our cloves of garlic,
[72 - 75] and there's lots of different ways of doing this.
[76 - 78] First way is with your hands.
[78 - 80] You can just get in there with your hands and peel 'em away.
[80 - 82] I got lucky with this head of garlic
[82 - 85] because the skin started to naturally separate.
[85 - 87] For the most part, that doesn't happen all the time.
[87 - 89] The second way I do it is with a paring knife.
[89 - 91] With the paring knife, it's a little more time-consuming,
[91 - 93] a little more labor-intensive.
[93 - 94] Usually what I do with this is
[94 - 98] I'll cut off that root end,
[98 - 100] and then you kinda gotta make a little incision
[100 - 101] and you gotta peel it off.
[101 - 103] You gotta be a little more careful,
[103 - 105] but for the most part, it comes off fairly easy.
[105 - 107] You just have to make sure you don't leave
[107 - 108] any little skin on.
[108 - 111] So that's with a paring knife.
[111 - 113] Another way to peel your garlic is the two-bowl method.
[114 - 115] The first time I remember seeing
[115 - 116] this method is on Martha Stewart.
[116 - 119] I find it about 70% effective.
[119 - 121] So I'm just gonna take my garlic cloves,
[121 - 123] throw them in a bowl, take the other bowl.
[123 - 126] It helps that they have lips like this.
[126 - 128] Put it together and give it a shake.
[128 - 133] [bowls clattering] [saucy music]
[134 - 135] See how we did.
[135 - 136] Okay, look at that.
[136 - 138] There's always a few in there that don't get peeled.
[138 - 142] That's why I say this is about 70% effective. Thanks, Martha.
[142 - 145] Similar to the bowl method is the jar method,
[145 - 147] or the TikTok method.
[147 - 150] There's a ton of cooking hacks on TikTok nowadays.
[150 - 151] You're bound to find one that works.
[151 - 158] And by the way, you can follow me, @protocooks on TikTok. [showtune music]
[158 - 159] To be honest with you, I've never really tried this.
[159 - 162] I'm not sure it's gonna work, but I assume it will.
[163 - 164] If you can get the lid on.
[165 - 170] Try not to throw it across the room. [jar clattering]
[172 - 175] All right, let's see. All right.
[175 - 178] Maybe that is successful as the bowl method,
[178 - 180] but we got some peeled garlic.
[180 - 181] Way to go, TikTok.
[181 - 182] Our cloves are peeled.
[182 - 185] Time to cut. [relaxing music]
[185 - 186] The main idea with garlic is,
[186 - 189] the more you process or chop it,
[189 - 190] the stronger it gets.
[190 - 193] Basically a whole clove is about a zero or a one,
[193 - 195] and as we go up the line to fine-chopped,
[195 - 196] we're getting to like a ten.
[196 - 197] You smell like garlic.
[198 - 199] You taste like garlic.
[199 - 202] It comes out of your pores. Whole cloves.
[202 - 203] Sometimes when we cook with garlic,
[203 - 204] we don't cut it at all.
[204 - 207] My grandmother do not like to eat garlic,
[207 - 208] but she did like the flavor,
[208 - 210] so she would just take a couple of whole cloves,
[210 - 213] throw it in the oil, flavor the oil with garlic,
[213 - 214] and then take 'em out.
[214 - 216] And basically, on a flavor scale, this is a zero.
[216 - 219] You don't get a ton of flavor out of a whole clove
[219 - 222] of garlic if you just saute it. Crushed garlic.
[222 - 224] Get your clove of garlic on the board
[224 - 227] and give it a light tap. That's it.
[227 - 230] Flavor scale, we get a little more garlic flavor,
[230 - 231] probably like a two.
[231 - 234] When we crush it, it doesn't release
[234 - 235] all the volatile compounds.
[235 - 237] It just leaves it really mellow.
[237 - 240] I tend to use this in sauces like a meat sauce
[240 - 242] or a tomato sauce that cooks for a long time.
[242 - 245] I don't want my tomato sauce to be super garlic-forward,
[245 - 247] but I do want the sweetness and the mellowness
[247 - 250] of a long-cooked piece of garlic. Slice it.
[250 - 252] Another way to cut garlic is to slice.
[252 - 255] I use this whenever I do something like mussels
[255 - 258] or something that I want to see the garlic in.
[258 - 259] It's not gonna melt away.
[259 - 260] It's not that thin.
[260 - 262] Garlic stays fairly mellow.
[262 - 266] On a flavor scale, I'd give this about a five or a six. Mandoline.
[266 - 268] The mandoline is similar to the knife,
[268 - 270] but you're living a little dangerously with it.
[270 - 273] The newer, modern ones have this nice screw,
[273 - 275] and we could lower the blade,
[275 - 277] and then we grab our clove of garlic
[277 - 279] and we can run it over here.
[279 - 280] Just try not to cut your fingers.
[280 - 283] When you get down to here, don't cut anymore.
[283 - 286] From this, you get really nice, even slices,
[286 - 289] a little bit better than the knife. Razor blade.
[289 - 290] Now, if you've seen "Goodfellas",
[290 - 293] they're in prison, they have a clove of garlic,
[293 - 294] they're making tomato sauce,
[294 - 295] and they one of these razor blades out.
[295 - 297] They're slicing the garlic super thin with this,
[297 - 300] almost paper thin, and that does two things.
[300 - 302] It gives us some mellow garlic flavor,
[302 - 304] and it kinda melts in the sauce,
[304 - 306] so you don't have chunks of garlic in your sauce.
[306 - 308] So let's give it a shot. I've never done this before.
[308 - 310] And I'll try not to cut myself.
[310 - 311] Oh, look at that.
[311 - 312] That is a sharp blade.
[312 - 315] I can imagine this makes delicious pasta.
[315 - 318] On the flavor scale, I'd say this is about a four. Rough chop.
[319 - 320] So when I rough-chop garlic,
[320 - 322] I give it a little whack with the side of the knife.
[322 - 324] I make sure that this a little stem end is gone first.
[324 - 325] Not good eating.
[325 - 327] I give it a little whack,
[328 - 330] and then I just run my knife through it
[330 - 333] so I have fairly even-chopped garlic,
[333 - 334] but not super fine.
[335 - 339] This is something I use if I'm putting in meatballs
[339 - 341] or into stuffings. I like to see a little bit of the garlic.
[341 - 344] I like to have a little bit stronger flavor,
[344 - 345] 'cause there's a lotta bland ingredients in it.
[345 - 349] Flavor scale, we're getting into a six. Mincing.
[349 - 352] I also call this the French way of cutting garlic,
[352 - 354] which is a little more dainty, a little more fine.
[354 - 355] So I get a clove of garlic,
[355 - 358] and what I'm gonna do is just kinda cut it through.
[360 - 363] And then we're gonna cut across once or twice.
[363 - 367] And then we have our nice mince.
[367 - 370] I find that people will use this for sauteing.
[370 - 373] They'll use it in soups, sauces, stocks,
[373 - 374] and salad dressings and stuff like that.
[374 - 377] On the favor scale, we're getting to an eight or a nine.
[377 - 380] We're getting a lot of pungent garlic flavors here.
[380 - 382] For the most part, I don't cut garlic this much.
[382 - 384] I am on the side of my grandmother,
[384 - 388] where the garlic should be a kind of like background flavor.
[388 - 389] Totally up to you.
[389 - 391] If you wanna mince your garlic, go for it,
[391 - 394] but I don't really use minced garlic. Grated.
[394 - 395] I think the best way to grate garlic is
[395 - 396] with a microplane.
[396 - 398] So a microplane is a kitchen tool that,
[398 - 400] for about 15, 20 years, has been
[400 - 401] in the professional kitchen,
[401 - 404] and basically what it is is a carpenter's rasp.
[404 - 406] Someone went into a carpentry shop,
[406 - 407] that was a chef, and said,
[407 - 408] "Hey, wait a second.
[408 - 410] "I might be able to grate things with this."
[410 - 413] I like to microplane or grate my garlic over a bowl,
[413 - 415] just because trying to clean this up
[415 - 416] off the cutting board is a real problem.
[416 - 419] You lose a lotta the oil to the cutting board.
[419 - 420] So if you do it over a bowl,
[420 - 422] it's a lot easier to catch.
[422 - 425] Just like the mandoline, this microplane can cut you,
[425 - 426] so be really careful.
[426 - 428] You'll see this used in Caesar dressings.
[428 - 430] You'll see this used in anywhere
[430 - 432] where you want a real spicy garlic punch.
[434 - 436] This, on the flavor scale, is topping out at nine,
[436 - 438] maybe even close to ten at this point.
[438 - 440] Just like the minced, I don't use this a lot.
[440 - 442] I think it's a little too much.
[442 - 445] And if you eat garlic like this, be warned.
[445 - 448] People might not wanna be close to you. Garlic press.
[448 - 450] This is something that has been around forever.
[450 - 453] I remember, back in the '80s, when I was a kid,
[453 - 454] my parents had one.
[454 - 456] They used this for Caesar salads all the time.
[456 - 459] It's super easy to use, a little harder to clean.
[459 - 462] Just drop your clove in there and just give it a squeeze.
[462 - 464] You'll notice that, when you do this,
[464 - 466] you get a ton of liquid and juice from it.
[466 - 468] For the most part, I don't use this,
[468 - 470] because on the favor scale, the garlic,
[470 - 471] this is an 11.
[471 - 473] Do not underestimate the power of pressed garlic.
[473 - 476] Pre-chopped, a.k.a. in the jar.
[476 - 479] This is pre-chopped, jarred garlic,
[479 - 481] and in my opinion, it's absolute garbage.
[481 - 482] You should never use it.
[482 - 485] It just smells like chemicals.
[485 - 486] It's way too strong.
[486 - 488] It flavors everything with
[488 - 491] this weird kind of off-putting garlic flavor.
[491 - 493] I think Anthony Bourdain said it best:
[493 - 495] "Too lazy to peel fresh garlic?
[495 - 497] "You don't deserve to eat garlic."
[497 - 499] On a flavor scale of zero to ten,
[499 - 502] jarred garlic is... Garbage.
[502 - 505] Don't use it. Roasted.
[505 - 507] I don't think any garlic video would be complete
[507 - 509] without talking about roasted garlic.
[509 - 510] Roasted garlic is probably the most mellow garlic
[510 - 513] you can get, and there's two ways that you can do this.
[513 - 516] You can take a whole clove, cut the top off,
[516 - 517] put a little oil, salt, and pepper,
[517 - 520] wrap it in foil, and roast it in the often 'til it's soft.
[520 - 523] But the way I like to do it is take peeled cloves
[523 - 527] of garlic, put 'em in a pot, cover 'em with a neutral oil,
[527 - 529] and just let it simmer for about 10, 15 minutes.
[529 - 532] On a flavor scale, this is pretty much like a two or three.
[532 - 534] Without the pungency.
[534 - 535] There's really no bite to it.
[535 - 537] You can spread it on bread, eat it with a piece of cheese,
[537 - 540] and you're not gonna have crazy garlic breath the next day.
[540 - 544] It's just gonna be a nice, nutty, mellow garlic flavor.
[544 - 546] I hope you learned a little something about garlic today,
[546 - 547] and at the end of the day, it's your dish.
[547 - 549] You cut the garlic how you want it.
[549 - 553] Just please, please, please don't use the stuff in the jar.
[553 - 555] Cut it fresh, or I'm gonna come to your house,
[555 - 560] gonna take your jar, and I'll throw it out the window. [Frank laughs]
[560 - 562] This is a garlic gadget that I know was reviewed
[562 - 565] on "Well Equipped". [chef croons]
[565 - 566] - It's fun to play with.
[566 - 569] - You put a clove of garlic in and you roll it around.
[570 - 573] Looks like the garlic is more powerful than machine here.
[577 - 579] All right, let's see how we did.
[579 - 581] Uh, it's pretty ineffective.
[581 - 583] On a flavor scale, I'd probably give this a five or a six.
[583 - 584] It's probably fairly strong.
[584 - 586] But as far as effectiveness goes
[586 - 589] and having to clean this darn thing, I give it a zero.