There are few things Idepend on in the kitchen more than garlic. Salt and pepper, perhaps. Butter and lemons are in the frame. But garlic stands shoulder to shoulder with such essentials, able to enhance and define, to add both sweetness and savour. None of its allium relatives – onions, shallots, chives – does quite the same things in quite the same way.
It's a shame, then, that we so often settle for second-rate garlic, and that we overcook it – or even overuse it. Adding too much is sometimes a way to sell garlic a little short.
Garlic's indispensability has lulled us into thinking of it as a sort of long-life standby. But in fact it is a fresh, seasonal vegetable that will behave in very different ways depending on how you treat it.
Crushing raw garlic breaks down its cells and releases eye-watering sulphurous compounds. It needs to be used with care but can have awonderful effect. Add just a scrap to dressings or yoghurty dips to give a breath of heat and acidic definition.
If you are not adept at crushing garlic with a knife, there's no reason to shun the much-sneered-at crusher. An even easier option is a fine grater, which will produce a little heap of pureed garlic with no trouble at all.
Sliced or chopped garlic is less fiery. Cooked gently in oil, it releases that lovely sweet richness crucial for rounding out stews and soups. This warmth is a consequence of garlic's abundant natural sugars. But these are also responsible for its propensity to burn. If you are frying garlic, do so with the gentlest of touches. Imagine you are merely giving it a hot bath. As soon as the oil starts to fizz, it's a matter of seconds until the garlic begins to brown and you'll start tasting an undesirable bitterness. It's often wise to cook garlic with awetter ingredient, such as onions or tomatoes, to prevent this.
And then there's roasting garlic whole – a simple procedure (slice off the top of a whole bulb, trickle with oil, wrap loosely in foil, bake at 190-200C/375-390F/gas mark 5-6 for about 45 minutes) that completely changes its character, making it mild and sweet. You can squeeze out the gooey golden flesh and squish it on to meat or fish, or roasted root veg, like a garlicky ketchup.
But even roast garlic is occasionally disappointing. It can be bitter or insipid. That happens when you use bulbs that have been stored too long and are beginning to think about reproducing. Once it starts to develop little green shoots, your garlic is really a goner. If the shoot is tiny, halve the clove and nick it out with a knife. Butif the garlic smells stale, bin it.
This is the best time to buy the homegrown crop, following the late summer harvest. Look for plump, hard cloves that completely fill their skins, and use them quickly. It's best not to store garlic for too long in the fridge, as this can affect its flavour and stimulate germination. A few days in the fridge are preferable to a warm, steamy kitchen, but ideally keep your garlic somewhere cool and dry, in a container that allows air to circulate. The best way to experience garlic at its freshest is tobuy it every few weeks – anduse it all the time.
Six-hour spiced lamb with 40 cloves of garlic
Lamb and garlic are always winning partners. Serves 6-8.
1 shoulder of lamb (or hogget or mutton), on the bone, around 2kg
4-6 heads of garlic (depending onsize), broken into cloves
For the spice mixture
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp fennel seeds
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp caraway seeds
10-12 black peppercorns
2 tsp sweet paprika
Pinch of cayenne pepper
¾ tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/gas mark 7. Heat a dry frying pan over a medium heat. Add the cumin, fennel, coriander and caraway seeds and peppercorns, and toast until fragrant – about a minute. Transfer to a mortar and use a pestle to pound to a fine powder. Combine with the paprika, cayenne, salt and oil.
Put the lamb in a large, deep roasting tin. Use the tip of a sharp knife to score the meat – just a few millimetres deep. Tip the spice mixture over the joint and massage it in, including the underside, working it into any crevices.
Roast in the hot oven for 30 minutes. Baste the lamb with its juices, then pour a glass of water into the tin (not over the meat). Cover with foil, return to the oven and reduce the heat to 120C/250F/gas mark ½. After five more hours, take the lamb out and scatter the whole garlic cloves into the lamb juices. Cover the dish again and return to the oven for a final hour, by which time the meat should be extremely tender and the garlic soft and sweet.
Pull the lamb into pieces with aknife and fork, and dish up with the garlic cloves. Skim off the fat from the pan juices and trickle over the meat some of the dark, meaty liquor that remains. Accompany with something that will soak up the juices – mash, couscous, bread – anda big bowl of green salad.
Beetroot with garlic and walnut dressing
This is based on a recipe from US food writer Mark Bittman. Serves 4 as a starter or side.
For the beetroot
1kg small beetroot, about the size ofgolf balls
4 garlic cloves, skin on and bashed
4 sprigs of thyme
3 bay leaves
Sea salt and black pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
Chopped parsley, to serve
For the dressing
6 tbsp olive oil
6 garlic cloves, peeled
75g walnuts
Lemon juice
First, roast the beetroot. Preheat the oven to 200C/395F/gas mark 6. Scrub the beetroot, then place in a baking tin. Add the garlic, thyme and bay leaves, season and trickle over the oil. Mix well, then cover with foil. Roast until tender – about an hour, though it could take longer, depending on the size of the beetroot. They're cooked when a knife slips easily into their flesh. Leave to cool a little.
Heat the oil for the dressing in a small pan over a low heat. Add the garlic and cook very gently for threeto five minutes, until it starts to soften. Now add the walnuts and cook for another few minutes. Transfer to a food processor and blitz to a coarse puree. Season with lemon juice, salt and pepper.
Ideally while still warm, peel or rub the skins off the beetroot and slice them into slender wedges. Add the walnut dressing and toss gently to distribute it. Taste and add more salt, pepper and lemon juice as needed, then scatter with parsley and serve.
Runner beans stewed with garlic
This simple but amazing dish is from my friend Sarah Raven. Serves 4.
500g runner beans, de-stringed
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Knob of butter
1 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil
Salt and pepper
Chop the beans into small pieces, on the diagonal. Put in a large pan with the garlic, butter, oil and 3-4 tbsp water. Heat until steaming.
Cover the pan, leaving a slight gap, and stew very gently over alow heat for about 30 minutes, until the beans are completely tender. Stir occasionally and add a little more water if needed. Uncover for the last few minutes of cooking, so most of the water can evaporate. Season well and serve hot or warm.
Squid with garlic, chilli and lemon
Fabulously fast. Serves 4 as a starter.
4-5 small/medium squid (750g-1kgtotal), cleaned, tentaclescut off and reserved
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 medium-hot red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
Cut open the squid bodies. Using alightly serrated knife, score the inside surface into a diamond pattern, without cutting right through. Cut each body into two to four pieces.
Combine the squid pieces and tentacles with the garlic, lemon, chilli, olive oil and seasoning. Heat a grill pan or heavy frying pan until really hot. Add the squid pieces, diamond side up, and the tentacles. Cook for one minute, then turn over. Cook for a minute more. Thesquid pieces will curl up, so flip them one more time if necessary to cook through, but don't cook formore than four minutes in total. Serveimmediately with lemon wedges and salad or chips.
