Garlic: pressing v. mincing

My wife is reading the book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain (highly recommended, she says). In the book, the author (a professional chef) in passing calls garlic presses “those abominations,” but never really explains why he thinks so. Obviously he considers squooshed garlic inferior to minced, but in what way? Taste? Texture? And what happens to the garlic that makes it “different” when pressed? And is there any evidence to support this, or is his opinion possibly one of those old wives tales about cooking?

Insight? Observation? Explanation? WAG? Anyone?

In general, you press garlic when you

  1. Want larger chunks of garlic than mincing/chopping will yield, or

  2. Want “essence of garlic”, that is, garlic juices without any chunks at all.

My mother adds that she’s never used pressed garlic, but that she has a recipe for garlic-stuffed chicken that reads, in essence, “Take one chicken. Fill with garlic. Cook at 350[sup]o[/sup].” So sometimes you do want large hunks of garlic.

My guess would be that the professional chef thinks that the pressed garlic lacks subtlety, since pressed garlic tends to yield a more concentrated flavor. It certainly should be much stronger, though that’s speculation; I’ve chopped garlic, but never pressed it.

Apparently

  1. It is a law that anyone associated with the Food Network hates garlic presses and must say so in print. (Bourdain wasn’t associated with the FN when he wrote it. Maybe they won’t hire you unless you’re fanatic about it)

  2. allegedly it makes the garlic bitter (Alton Brown explained it once…something about how there’s an oil in the cells of the garlic. When you cut or even mince the garlic, a lot of the bitter oil stays in the cells (and when the garlic is cooked, the bitter oil mellows in taste a lot if it’s still inside the cells), but when you squoosh the garlic in a press, ALL the cell walls rupture and all the oil comes out…but then, why do all Food Network chefs suggest taking something heavy and smashing your garlic before mincing it? Maybe it’s a snob-thing.)

I have no problem with garlic presses myself, if I don’t care about the texture of the garlic as part of the dish. If I’m only trying to impart the flavor, I’ve never had a problem with a press.

Fenris

I’m dubious too, although I wack garlic with my cleaver in preference to my nice Zyliss press most of the time. On the other hand, I do believe the texture of onions matters even if they’re going to melt into the sauce - I’d never use a whizzer rather than fienly chop them.

Whenever I’ve preparing garlic I think of that scene in ‘Goodefellas’ where the guy is shaving a clove into ultra-thin slices, and the voiceover says that the slices are so thin that they dissolve into the olive oil. I don’t have the patience to try it, but would that really work? I suspect even the thinnest slice would simply fry in oil, and not dissolve.

The only reason I don’t use a garlic press is because I don’t like cleaning it. Easier for me to use a knife or the giant economy size jar of minced garlic bought at Sam’s Club.

I usually use a press because when using a knife I tend to mince my fingers as well as the garlic. I’ve not noticed any bitterness.
I’m harvesting my garlic crop tomorrow. (Just wanted to throw that in somewhere.)

Now you’re talking! Pre-minced garlic- just scoop and go! (Although I get mine from Trader Joe’s, but whatever.)

Revtim, I have mellowed garlic before in oil. Here’s the idea: Put whole cloves of garlic in a saucepan and fill with enough olive oil to cover the tops. Put it on very very low heat. If the cloves start to brown, take it off the heat. Watch it very very closely! After around half an hour, let it cool and place it in a jar and refrigerate. The oil tastes nutty and garlicky, but very subltly. And the cloves are so soft and tasty that you can just spread them on french bread and eat them out of the hand. Mmmm!

For me, the garlic press issue is one of texture rather than taste. I’ve had excellent results pressing fresh garlic, but for preference I get one of the big bottles of peeled garlic cloves at Costco and throw it in the food processor with a little coarse salt , then cover it with olive oil in a Tupperware container in the fridge.
I think it tastes better than the pre-mushed stuff, and I can control the texture.

I have experimented with the razor blade method, and it’s

a) a pain in the ass, and the slices only dissolve if they’re stewing in a red sauce

and

b) unnecessary if you have a vegetable peeler and some dexterity. Just use the peeler and shave slices off the clove. I also use the peeler to get lemon zest off. and to shave chocolate curls for dessert garnish.

red_dragon60, that sounds mighty fine, I will try that sometime. Thanks!