Garlic becomes essential ingredients that you should have in your kitchen. Most of recipes, starting from the simple to the sophisticated dishes, require garlic. A single garlic clove can change the flavor of your dish. Of course, it may taste awful when you eat the raw garlic, but it will really change the flavor and aroma of your dishes. Fortunately, it is not rare ingredients. You can find them easily in any markets. However, you still need to choose the best quality of garlic so you can get the greatest taste.
Picking the Freshest Garlic
It is true that you can find garlic clove easily. In market, you can find bulbs of garlic from many sellers. However, you still need to selective in choosing the best garlic. You need to get the freshest and most flavorful garlic, and these are some tips that you can follow.
One of the points that you should get attention is firmness of garlic clove. Of course, you cannot just check it visually. You need to touch and even grab the bulbs to know its firmness. Normally, you are allowed to check and even squeeze the garlic. In this case, you need to pick the firmest ones. It must be solid because it shows its prime and later it will last longer when you store them. In this case, you need to avoid soft or even mushy garlic.
After you squeeze the garlic and you get the firmest one, you still need to check other aspects. Now, you need to pay attention to the details of each garlic clove. Good quality of garlic must be plump and the shape is good. In addition, you need to check whether there are dark spots and blemishes or not. The best and freshest garlic must be free from any spots. Its color should also be vibrant.
Next, you can pay attention to the skin of garlic. Garlics in best quality have tight dry skins with papery texture. In case it is too loose or flaky, you should find other garlics. Loose skins become signs that the garlic clove is no longer fresh. It may also shows that the garlic has been exposed to moisture and it will affect the quality.
Garlic normally can last for weeks when it is stored properly. Thus, the sellers in the market may also have stocks of older garlics. Actually it is fine because you may get lower price. However, you need to check the condition by following the tips above. In addition, you need to make sure that there is no sprout. This means that the garlic is too old and it will not be good for cooking. Then, the sprout on garlic shows that it is stored in the place with high level of moisture. Thus, it is truly bad in quality.
Choosing fresh garlic clove is surely important. You need to buy the best quality so later you can also get the best flavor. In fact, it is not difficult job to do and you can follow the steps.
