To All,
Little did I know that a major theme of my retirement would be the search for a satisfactory garlic strategy. I am now on my fifth garlic strategy.
First, I started my retirement by keeping a head of garlic on my kitchen counter. Whenever I wanted garlic, I would remove a clove, peel it, dice it, and throw it into whatever dish I was preparing. Peeling a clove, however, was tedious and time-consuming; I wanted something easier.
Second, I got a container of garlic powder and would just shake some into my cooking pot. This certainly met the goal of ease of use, but the flavor didn't seem to be there.
Third, I got a jar of Adobo seasoning, which Maria had introduced me to, and would shake some into my dishes. This powder contains garlic as well as other seasonings. This improved the flavor, but eventually I was put off by the high salt content.
Fourth, while scouting the fruit and vegetable aisle at Market Basket, I found a mayonnaise-sized jar of minced garlic for only $3.49. This was cheap, easy, and was much closer to the true garlic experience. But could I do better?
Fifth, on my last trip to Market Basket's fruit and vegetable aisle I spotted a plastic container full of peeled garlic cloves. The container is one of those tapering plastic cylinders that restaurants use for doggy bags; it is about three inches tall and four inches wide at the top. It is crammed with about 80 perfectly peeled cloves of garlic. When I want garlic, I get a clove out of the fridge, dice it, and am ready to season. No peeling. Easy. Should I need a quantity of garlic that makes the dicing a hassle, e.g., if I make a mess of black-eyed peas, I have added a garlic press to my arsenal of kitchen tools. The peeled cloves are so immaculate that they are things of beauty; you can almost see your face reflected in them. Have I finally found nirvana? Is my search for the ultimate garlic strategy at an end? This strategy certainly wins the prize not only for ease but also for cheapness since I got 0.68 pounds of garlic for $1.35. My only doubt is that the container had a sell-by date less than a week into the future. Do peeled cloves of garlic go bad or lose their potency in the fridge?
My container is marked "Product of China." I am now wondering if there are wage slaves in China who are perfectionists who spend twelve hours a day hunched over a garlic-peeling table. Or perhaps the cloves are pristine because they are cleaned in a bath of asbestos water.
