There’s a lot to know about raw garlic in its various forms. In
The Complete Book of Garlic (Timber Press, 2008), Ted Jordan
Meredith tackles what he calls the next gourmet frontier, giving
detailed information for cooks, chefs and natural health
enthusiasts. The Complete Book of Garlic gives guides to
planting and growing garlic for the best results in the kitchen
and in home remedies. In this excerpt from the “Cuisine”
chapter, Meredith explains how garlic gets its taste. Buy this
book from the MOTHER EARTH NEWS store: The Complete Book of
Garlic. Garlic’s composition, chemistry and enzymatic
interactions determine how different preparation methods affect
its taste and thus the taste of the culinary preparations that
include it. These same preparation methods also define and
determine the therapeutic effects of garlic. Understanding this
nexus helps us better understand our culinary choices.
Considerations of taste and health both help shape the methods
we may choose to apply. Allicin, Alliin and Alliinase