We love garlic in our vinaigrettes, but find that the raw stuff often becomes too pungent and overpowering. A chef friend recently suggested we try rubbing the salad bowl with a clove of garlic. The result is magical: a pleasant background note of garlic infused throughout the salad. You have to try this!
We think this garlic tip works in two ways. First, much of our sense of taste actually comes from our sense of smell, so we think that smelling the garlic from the bowl tricks our tastebuds into actually tasting it.
And secondly, we think the garlic juice gradually mixes into the vinaigrette as we're eating and moving the greens around the bowl. This is just enough to add a touch of garlic flavor without the bright pungency of actual minced garlic.
Either way, we love this new technique! Do you like garlic in your salads?
• Salad Pictured Above: Orange, Olive, and Fennel Salad
Related: Salad for Dinner: 7 Ways to Make It Filling
(Images: Faith Durand; Emma Christensen)
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I do this for my caesar salad and when I make fondue but never thought of doing it for other dishes-DUH!
Whenever I make dressing I let it sit for a night in the fridge with the garlic pieces so the garlic flavor can infuse with the remaining liquid and the bits become less pungent. Of course this is when I plan a night ahead of time... this tip is great for the times I forget :-)
I always saw this tip in vintage recipes and was skeptical of it working. Maybe now I'll have to give it a go!
Only one question - what do you do with the poor lonely clove when you're done?
sometimes i smash a clove of garlic with the back of a knife and drop the whole chunk into dressing while i make the rest of dinner. when it's time to serve the salad, i just remove the smashed clove and dress with the remaining vinaigrette. no overly-garlic'ed flavor!
I saw a test of this in Cooks Illustrated, and they tried a salad without a garlic rubbed bowl, and one made with a garlicly bowl - and could tell the difference. What a simple trick to make things better!