Are you a presser or a cutter? It may sound trivial but if you are quite shallow and insecure, it could make all the difference to your social standing. In his amazing warts and all expose of the restaurant industry, the late Anthony Bourdain wrote: “Treat your garlic with respect. Sliver it for pasta, like you saw in Goodfellas. I don’t know what that junk is that squeezes out the end of those things, but it ain’t garlic.”
Garlic press deniers claim that the garlic press spoils the taste of the garlic and even claim that it gives it a metallic or stronger taste.
However curry queen Madhur Jaffrey is a big fan and uses one throughout ‘The Curry Bible’ and Raymond Blanc says that the press is the ‘best and easiest’ way to crush garlic.
So, who to believe…?
Answer: me. Smash garlic with the side of a knife and then roughly chop it up. It’s better because it looks more badass.
It’s a universal cooking rule that anything dangerous, involving fire or blades, always tastes better.