Food Fight

Garlic: To crush or to chop,
that is the question.

Does it really matter whether you chop, mince, crush, press, or mash garlic? Nearly every non-sweet food is enhanced by this flavorful member of the Lily family, and recipes call for anywhere from 1 clove to 40 (in a famous recipe for roast chicken). When a recipe calls for a clove or two of garlic, chopped, do you reach for the garlic press, or do you chop by hand?

Consider the desired outcome of your recipe before tackling the garlic. It actually makes a difference whether you chop or crush a clove. Chopping releases less of the volatile oils that give garlic its punch. In dishes that simmer for a long time, or aim for a mellow garlic taste, chopped pieces will gradually release their flavor into the food. Mincing, which creates smaller particles and requires more cuts, releases slightly more of the oils sooner.

Crushing (with the broad side of a chef’s knife), pressing (with a hand-held garlic press), and mashing (in a mortar and pestle) create progressively stronger garlic flavor. When the oils are released all at once, they react with an enzyme to produce a big garlic flavor right away. The strongest, sharpest garlic flavor per clove can probably be obtained with a mortar and pestle, which extracts the most oils from the garlic. In this way, one clove of garlic mashed with a mortar and pestle can have more impact than several chopped cloves that simmer in a stew. For salad dressings and other recipes that ask for a big, bright garlic flavor, mash or press the garlic.

When shopping for garlic, buy heads that are hard, not spongy, with no green sprouts. Store garlic in a cool, dry place (not the refrigerator). Best of all, eat it. It’s long been considered one of the healing foods, with natural antibiotic and cholesterol-lowering properties. The ancient Romans considered it a stimulant and fed garlic oil to their slaves and soldiers. Judging from the decline and collapse of the Roman Empire, the ruling class might better have dosed themselves with the garlic.

Last Bite

Left-Handed Lobsters and Other Lore

For the first time since April, we are back to a month that has an "R" in it. This is a big deal only to those who subscribe to the belief that oysters should never be consumed in months without an "R," namely, from May through August. This dates back to a time when lack of speedy, refrigerated transit made the shipment of oysters in the warm months precarious at best. Today, fresh seafood of all types makes its way to every nook and cranny of the country.

What’s curious, though, is this: The rule about oysters may have been given for a reason that no longer holds true, but it’s still good advice. Because oysters spawn during the summer months, they tend to be more watery and less meaty then, and they taste much better when they’ve recovered and are swimming around in a month that has an "R."

Lobsters, however, especially Maine lobsters, taste sweet and glorious year-round. The trick in buying or ordering is to be sure to get hard-shell lobsters, those that aren’t shedding their shells. When a lobster molts (which happens half a dozen times during its life), the whole rigamarole of wiggling out of its too-small shell and growing a new one leave it skinny and vulnerable. Hard-shell lobsters pack more meat and, of course, are much more rewarding to eat because they require more effort from the diner. (You have to earn those little pots of melted butter.) To order your very own Maine lobster, go to www.mainelobsterdirect.com, and get your family ready for a feast.

Now, what’s that about left-handed lobsters? A close look at any Maine lobster (more properly, Homarus americanus) reveals that its two claws are not symmetrical. The larger claw, which contains more meat, is used for heavy-duty work, while the smaller claw is used for lighter tasks. A lobster is called left-handed or right-handed depending on which side has the larger claw.

Which claw tastes better? Bite for bite, the small claw’s meat is probably more sweet and tender. The larger claw has the advantage of quantity. A marriage made in heaven, you might say.