Garlic in Italian food: yes or no?

I absolutely love garlic. It's staying in my repertoire.

It depends, but mostly no. I use garlic to make marinara. Bolognese, no. Another version of meat sauce, yes.

There's a Venetian dish, fish en saor, that does not use garlic. But I've made it with sliced chicken breasts instead, and I use a raw parsley-garlic mixture as part of that preparation. It's very garlic-y. Kind of like gremolata without the lemon.

Garlic is wonderful. Eliminate it from food? No thanks.

Roasted garlic spread onto warm bread is heavenly!

YES! Mincing garlic is 100% an Italian-American thing and NOT an Italian thing. It even grew into its own urban legend now, thanks to Hollywood.

Fuck “authentic.” Garlic is great!

Not tonight darling, you ate garlic.

I love the smell of garlic. I love the smell of guidopits too! I put garlic in everything but i never smell. Weird.

Sounds lovely R2.

No. It does unpleasant things to my GI tract.

Garlic they say is as good as ten mothers. I like to chew on raw garlic cloves. It's good for your health and keeps vampires away.

I come from a long line of Italians, right off the boat back in the early 1900's.

My Mom, my aunts, and even some of my uncles made excellent sauce, very light on the garlic. They were all taught using the same basic ingredients, but everyone's sauce was unique. All delicious, never said no to an invite for Sunday Spaghetti.

First thing I do when I wake up is chew one or two whole garlic cloves and I use it in almost all of my meals.

R13 my Russian great-grandmother ate buttered toast and a raw garlic clove every morning for most of her life. I love cooked garlic, but I find the spice of raw garlic a bit overpowering. I've eaten it raw before, but it's not something I would do everyday. Very healthy, though.

I know it's ridiculous, but I love to smell my fingers after I have cut garlic. That and basil are my favorite scents in the kitchen (other than fresh baked cookies, duh!).

During the pandemicI kept my immune system up with a drink made of pineapple juice, carrot juice, ginger root and garlic, sometimes I used curcuma instead of ginger root. Granted, the raw garlic in the drink was a bit of an aquired taste, but I didn't get any Covid or flu symptoms the last two years.

What a stupid discussion.

Of course Italians in Italy use garlic, some regions more than others and yes, it is often not as intense as in the US but garlic is common.

[Quote]During the pandemicI kept my immune system up with a drink made of pineapple juice, carrot juice, ginger root and garlic,

Sure you did, gurl.

[quote] Sure you did, gurl.

Gurl, please.

I wouldn't say the answer is a "yes" OR a "no", but rather "yes AND no."

Love garlic. Don't care if it's "authentic" or not. Cuisine evolves.

Some restaurants in NYC to cater to a more assimilated upper crust clientele remove garlic. Then create a narrative that their practice is universal in Italy. I suspect like others have said it's more complicated with regional and local differences in the old country.

Not Italian but grown to love garlic.

I see someone else has discovered Pasta Grammar. I love her creativity.

When I worked at 4 Times Square we were warned NEVER to eat garlic at lunch or at dinners - and it was heavily intoned that we ought to never eat it at all, EVER. This because Si Newhouse hated garlic, so we all had to hate garlic too. I never touched it for over 20 years.

Now I love cooking with garlic just because I CAN. And because, done right, there's nothing so delicious.

There’s this very worrying trend in Italy now (and especially in the north) where garlic is slowly being shunted out of dishes, either by using a crushed, unpeeled clove (“aglio in camicia”) in the heating oil and then removing it, or by eliminating it altogether. Some of the most iconic local products (e.g., soppressa veneta) are now available in a “senza aglio” version, and these are gradually outselling the original.

A truly regrettable trend.

Lidia's marinara has an absolute ton of garlic in it.

For the love of God can we please stop with New York Times recipes? These fucking things are paywalled BEHIND paywalls.

I got to it without a paywall blocking me, r26. Stop whining and put me on ignore if this is such a huge problem in your life.

Classic Marinara Sauce

Recipe from Lidia Bastianich

Adapted by Julia Moskin

Homemade marinara is almost as fast and tastes immeasurably better than even the best supermarket sauce — and it's made with basic pantry ingredients. All the tricks to a bright red, lively-tasting sauce, made just as it is in the south of Italy (no butter, no onions) are in this recipe. Use a skillet instead of the usual saucepan: the water evaporates quickly, so the tomatoes are just cooked through as the sauce becomes thick. (Our colleagues over at Wirecutter have spent a lot of time testing skillets to find the best on the market. If you're looking to purchase one, check out their skillet guide.) —Julia Moskin

Ingredients

Yield: 3½ cups, enough for 1 pound of pasta

one 28-ounce can whole San Marzano tomatoes, certified D.O.P. if possible

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

7 garlic cloves, peeled and slivered

Small dried whole chile, or pinch crushed red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 large fresh basil sprig, or ¼ teaspoon dried oregano, more to taste

Preparation

Step 1

Pour tomatoes into a large bowl and crush with your hands. Pour 1 cup water into can and slosh it around to get tomato juices. Reserve.

Step 2

In a large skillet (do not use a deep pot) over medium heat, heat the oil. When it is hot, add garlic.

Step 3

As soon as garlic is sizzling (do not let it brown), add the tomatoes, then the reserved tomato water. Add whole chile or red pepper flakes, oregano (if using) and salt. Stir.

Step 4

Place basil sprig, including stem, on the surface (like a flower). Let it wilt, then submerge in sauce. Simmer sauce until thickened and oil on surface is a deep orange, about 15 minutes. (If using oregano, taste sauce after 10 minutes of simmering, adding more salt and oregano as needed.) Discard basil and chile (if using).

[quote]Pour tomatoes into a large bowl and crush with your hands. Pour 1 cup water into can and slosh it around to get tomato juices. Reserve.

You have to take the seeds out first.

Of course- garlic is a staple of Italian cuisine and French too for that matter. Silly question.

[quote]You have to take the seeds out first.

I've made the NYT marinara more than a hundred times, and I've never taken the seeds out first. Nor do I bother with any other tomato sauce.

Lived with Italians for 20 years. From Benevento, Rome, Bari., Milan and Ischia. Every single one of them used garlic in almost every dish.

The problem with dicing or mincing garlic is that once it burns it turns bitter. That is why many cooks prefer to use the whole clove. Which is actually how you would use it when making sauce (at least that is the way I was taught by my Italian in-laws.) Swear to God, every single friend or family member who tasted my MIL’s meals proclaimed her to be the best cook ever. She was remarkable.

Just a lazy solution IMO, to use just whole cloves for all dishes, though. But, I suppose in a restaurant it’s a necessity. I imagine they don’t like chefs to be standing in front of the stove constantly checking on the minced garlic frying.

So, in response to the link at OP —- it’s a lie.

I need to make it myself, r31, I've been meaning to for months. Somewhere, maybe on DL, I saw someone say it was good with a tablespoon of melted butter in it at the end. Your thoughts? Or make it exactly as is with no variation?

I do like garlic, but for some reason, garlic keeps me up at night. Even after brushing my teeth and using Listerine, the garlic taste lingers and I can't sleep.

I can always tell when sauce is made with garlic powder instead of fresh. Garlic powder is really nasty and ruins everything it touches.

A few things:

1. Italians do not use as much garlic as Americans use, or think we use. We just don't. It flavors food but is not a major ingredient. (Unless you're making Aglio e Olio.)

2. Lidia Bastianich uses WAY TOO MUCH garlic. Ridiculous amounts of garlic. It may be to her family's taste, but she is representing that to "students" as standard Italian. It is not. (Much of her food is not authentic Italian, but that's another thread.)

3. Not only do Americans use too much garlic, but they burn it. When over-cooked, garlic is bitter and rancid. If you accidentally burn the garlic, throw it out and wash the pan. If you do not, all you will taste is burnt garlic.

If I walk into an Italian Restaurant and smell burnt garlic - or even an overpowering garlic smell - I turn around and walk out. It's inauthentic Italian food and I won't like it.

That smell is particularly common with fast-food American restaurants masquerading as Italian restaurants. I think they may over use garlic - and burn it - as a sign of authenticity. It's exactly the opposite.

Extra info: it changes by region of Italy, but many (if not most) Italian red "Sunday Sauces" do not have garlic in them (though their meatballs probably do.) Marinara sauces always use garlic, but not always "Sunday Sauce."

Garlic is always better used sparingly and delicately.

It's bad for reflux; one of the most acidic foods. I can't stand the way I smell if I eat too much of it, and i can smell it other people who overconsume it.

I recently started using whole cloves and removing them at the end of cooking as the article in OP states, and I enjoy this compromise. Straight garlic is not for me.

My maternal grandmother was the daughter of Italian immigrants, but she had a sensitive stomach & ulcers so she never cooked with garlic. My mother did the same because that was what she was used to. I like the taste, but I’m more used to Italian food without it.

Americans didn’t call Italian immigrants garlic eaters for no reason. It’s probably toned down since then.

I hate burned garlic! People who use that minced garlic in a jar always burn it, and a lot of people who use a garlic press also burn it. It only needs seconds in the oil if it's chopped or sliced fine.

why would we want to get rid of one of the few foods that have benefits?

[quote] why would we want to get rid of one of the few foods that have benefits?

Because it's high FODMAP.

r33, I always finish it with about 2T of butter.

il tuo amico, r31

Some dishes call for it, IMO. When I’m making Alfredo sauce, I sautée a smashed clove for a minute and then remove it. I put finely minced in my meatballs.

My Lithuanian grandfather put it in everything, he loved it. Big chunks in stuffed mushrooms, thin slices on buttered black bread.

I think garlic is strengthening, and if I haven’t eaten it in a while, I start craving.

[quote]It's good for your health and keeps vampires away.

Try and prove THAT'S a lie.

What R24 and R35 wrote is true.

Another thing that is really cringe worthy is American recipes that call for minced raw garlic. Italians just don't eat raw garlic.

Italians are so obsessed about hygiene, their breath, their clothes smelling of cooking they really do go very light on the garlic.

What I find most appalling, garlicly speaking, is the shit that comes in a jar, already chopped. Bleargh!

[quote] "Roasted garlic spread onto warm bread is heavenly!"

Agreed, R4! There is an Ecce Panis bread sold by Kroger that has whole cloves of roasted garlic baked into it. I toast slices of it, add a pat of salted butter, and mash & spread the garlic bits as I spread the butter on the warm toast. It's excellent.

Love, love, love garlic. I use it in my Fire Cider Tonic, as well.

The Silver Spoon cookbook has always said to put the whole clove in while hot then take it out later, whether hot oil in a pan or cooked pasta with sauce.

^ If you are sautéing garlic, add it to the oil in the pan and then turn on the heat. Same for onions.

Italian-American here. We never dice or sliver the garlic. We whack the whole cloves w the back of a large knife, and then brown it in the olive oil before the food (meat, tomatoes, whatever).

My mother said never dice it, it will cause indigestion.

[quote]Italian red "Sunday Sauces"

Italian-American you mean.

It doesn't matter how they do it in Italy. If the restaurant is in America, use garlic, or deal with unhappy patrons.

Does Italian cuisine have any fermented foods?

There’s kraut and kimchi and yoghurt and natto and lutefisk. What do the Italians have?

Maybe beer?

^ Cheeses like gorgonzola, caciocavallo, Parmigiano-Reggiano, provolone contain probiotics and of course yogurt. Traditionally made wine without sulfates.

And pickled vegetables onions, beets, cauliflower etc. La giardiniera

[R54] The wine without or without added sulfates is the biggest reason I mostly drink Chianti or Greek wines. A few years ago I drank a California Cab and had a terrible reaction. A few weeks later I drank a California Rose and became very very sick. The reason… Added sulfates… So kind of like Italian shoes, my body just reacts better to Italian wines.

R55, thank you! And r54.

[quote]Much of [Lidia Bastianich’d] food is not authentic Italian, but that's another thread.

She doesn’t deserve her own thread, but here’s another vote for her inauthentic “Italian” recipes. There’s only one person who’s worse than her, and that’s her son Joe.

You remove the sprout. That's the part that is hard to digest.

The idea that Italian food is heavy with garlic is false, of course. It's use is more common in Sicily, but nowhere does every cook book recipe begin "Take a whole head of garlic...", "Take 4 or 5 cloves and garlic..." It's not a universal ingredient in a majority of savory dishes, it's generally not crushed, and and even in Sicily garlic is often removed from a dish before completion or plating.

In Spain, however, garlic is not quite a universal ingredient in savory dishes, but it's used in many, many things and often in quantity. It's almost never minced, however, nor removed from a finished dish. No one goes nuts over garlic breath and do people really complain of being "gassy" from garlic? How fucking delicate.

R12 will you share a recipe?

As with all foodstuffs and all cuisines, one uses what is appropriate for the dish at hand.

Duh.