In Star Wars, there is a light side and a dark side. The light side represents good, while the dark side represents evil, anger, and a farmboy regressing against his father. But in the case of garlic, the dark side is much, much sweeter.
Garlic is a common staple in our pantry. It makes marinara sauce sing! It’s hard to imagine that garlic could be anything more than an amazing one-note ingredient. Garlic is an aromatic that adds great flavor to almost anything.
Black Garlic isn’t a cousin, nephew, or uncle of the garlic plant. It is in fact the same plant, only it has been heated at various temperatures and varying levels of humidity for a couple of weeks. Through this process, the garlic goes through a Maillard Reaction. A Maillard reaction is the same thing that happens when bread is baked and a crust forms on top. The result is a flavor that adds different flavor notes. In the case of black garlic, a slightly firm exterior remains. No longer is the garlic pungent like it was in its raw, former self, now it is rich, sweet figgy taste. The garlic cloves that had been hard and firm, are now gooey with a slightly firm exterior, just like roasted garlic cloves.
Originally black garlic was created in South Korea as a diet supplement, and now it has been repurposed for all things culinary. The applications are endless, from replacing regular garlic in a salad dressing to using it in a marinade for pork belly. One might even puree it with a little grapeseed oil, cook it down a little, and use it to top some fresh steaks off The Big Green Egg you have in your backyard. If roasting is your thing, coat some eggplant in the marinade and roast it. There is no limit to what you can do with this unique ingredient. You can get black garlic in two ways: purchasing it or making it yourself.
Now if you’re saying, “No, problem, I can do this home.” Well you could, but it wouldn’t be very practical considering the modifications in temperature and humidity necessary through the 30-day process as well as significantly increasing your gas or electric bill. There are fermenting boxes that you can use, but in the end, they are just a one use item, with no other real purposes. Stick with buying it from your favorite spice shop.
Being that black garlic is a unique ingredient, it will likely not be at your local Jewel-Osco. To get your hands on these cloves, you need to go the specialty spice store route. Almost every single one will have them. I usually go to our neighbors at Savory Spice Shop in Lincoln Square.
Using new ingredients opens up possibilities in your recipes as well as others. Experiment, take notes, and taste everything!
If you are interested in learning more about unique flavor combinations that don't necessarily come with a recipe, don't miss The Chopping Block's Cooking Lab Flavor Dynamics cooking class. It's already sold out for April, so book a spot in May now!
