Monday evening, I made a pasta sauce with garlic in it for my spaghetti dinner.
The middle of the night, as I was sleeping, I felt that dead-animal taste slowly creep into my mouth. By the time I woke up, it was unbearable.
I ate sweet foods. I ate sour foods. I ate bland foods. I brushed with mint toothpaste (and I haaate mint). I chewed a leaf of parsley. Nothing worked. I went to bed still tasting sulfuric garbage.
I’m feeling better this morning- at least, the taste is faint enough to ignore unless I’m paying attention- but if there’s some good way to get rid of the Garlic Curse while it’s at its worst, I’d like to know for next time.
(I’d also like to know why I can eat a whole roast head without ill effects one day, and then another I make a sauce with two cloves cut into tiny bits and it comes back to haunt me. But I suspect that falls under Ineffable Mysteries of the Universe).
Each to his own, I suppose, but it is not a mistake, and the lingering aftertaste is a feature, not a bug.
It may have less to do with the spices and more to do with GI issues. Have you had heartburn, are acid reflux, in the past, or with other foods? Laying down with a heavy, full stomach may also make things worse, especially with certain foods that can relax your esophagus. I am sure a poster with a more medical background will be along shortly to explain.
If you have access to an Indian grocery store, a quarter teaspoon of Ajwain or half a teaspoon of large fennel seeds will clean up your palate very well indeed.
Make sure you chew them a few times before swallowing. The Ajwain is hot in an entirely different way.
I suspect the taste isn’t in your mouth, unless you had some garlic stuck in your teeth. It’s coming back up from your stomach. Either you’re burping during the night or you have some reflux going on while you’re sleeping (or rather, laying down).
You can put all the minty stuff you want in your mouth and it’s not going to stop the garlic flavored burps until the garlic moves further down your GI tract.
I’d suggest that if it happens again, eat something with a strong flavor, not just put it in your mouth. Even taking a few Tums or a swig of Pepto Bismol will probably do a perfectly good job of masking it until you fall back asleep.
As running coach pointed out, roasted garlic is much sweeter and less offensive than raw garlic, but I think you already know that. You could roast the garlic before putting it in your sauce, or let it simmer for much longer to break it down. It might also help if you try to eat it earlier in the evening so more of it gets further down your system by the time you’re laying down to sleep.
Garlic has sulfur compounds that enter the bloodstream during digestion. The odor of these compounds can be detected on the skin after perspiration. However, the blood also releases these compounds to the air in the lungs via respiration and can persist for some time. You’d need to somehow scrub the sulfur from the blood but I don’t know how this would be achieved.
If the smell or taste is just something in your mouth I feel a couple swishes with Hydrogen Peroxide would help, of course you need to rinse out with water after cause that leaves an even nastier taste.
Baking soda and warm water. Swish and swallow. Do it a few times. Beware, some people barf after too much baking soda. Use a heaping teaspoon to a coffee cup of warm water.
Toasted fenugreek. But you have to eat it with the garlic. I like it toasted with coconut oil and used in after-dinner coffee or tea. As jnglmassiv explained, once the garlic has gone through digestion then just eating and drinking plenty of water until it’s eliminated is your only hope.
