When it comes to using garlic in recipes, we abide by a cooking technique called the more the merrier.
It’s a key ingredient in so many dishes, and whether you stick to one clove or throw in five for good measure, it can really bring out the best flavours in a dish.
When it comes to peeling garlic we all have our own chosen method, which usually includes bashing it with the side of a knife, scratching off the skin with your own bare hands, or putting it in a garlic press and wasting half of the clove by leaving it stuck in holes (don’t do that).
But a food writer says we may have all been doing it wrong after she received a message about a “mind-boggling garlic peeling tip”.
(Image: Digital Vision)
Sarah Jampel, editor of Bon Appetit’s Basically, was passed on the hack from a friend who had picked it up from Nadiya Hussain, winner of The Great British Bake Off in 2015, on her show Nadiya’s Time to Eat.
Her friend asked: “Please try it so I make sure I’m not insane and I’m not wrong.”
The trick is to simply throw the cloves into some very hot water and let them sit for about one minute, after which the skins will slip straight off with no effort.
Sarah wrote: “So I tried it. And it worked great!”
She added that it may not be time-efficient if you only need to peel a couple of cloves, but if you’re following a recipe which requires a substantial amount she labelled it a ‘game changer’.
So if you’re busy cooking a recipe requiring garlic, simply throw it into a bowl of hot water while you get on with preparing other ingredients.
Then the skins should simply fall away and you can get on with cutting them to size. It certainly beats have garlic stuck under your fingernails for the next few days.
