Garlic

Known for its ability to ward off vampires and destroy date nights, garlic is a powerful ingredient. But it’s also a delicious and essential ingredient, so it remains justly popular. I use garlic liberally when I cook. How garlic is prepped does make a difference in its flavor intensity. Grated garlic tends to taste much stronger when used raw, but when cooked most of those aromatic flavors quickly mellow. In comparison, sliced and minced garlic tend to taste much stronger when cooked. There are two main types of garlic: the ones with a woody stalk, called hardneck, and the other, softneck, which is the variety most often seen in grocery stores. Softneck tends to be slightly milder in flavor than hardneck.