To Tone Down The Harshness Of Raw Garlic Use One Citrusy Pantry Staple

If you're one of those aromatic fanatics who interprets a recipe calling for three cloves of garlic to mean you should pack your dish with three whole heads of garlic, you might not need to temper allium's taste. However, if you're sensitive to garlic's piquant flavor, you can actually soften the raw vegetable's harshness with a simple citrus.

To tackle the basic ingredient that flavors pasta sauce, aioli, roasted potatoes, crusty breads, and even ice cream, it's important to begin your garlic training. Raw garlic has an especially intense, potent nature that almost seems to sting when you bite into it. Cooking gives the herb a subtle, sweet, and tender caramelized quality, depending on the preparation method. To curb the bite of raw garlic, look no further than that bright bowl of lemons that's been looking pretty on the kitchen counter. Kind of like the lemon and garlic working together in your favorite, balanced salad dressing, the acidity of the citrus helps mitigate the intensity of raw garlic.

Chopping (or biting into) garlic tends to deliver an intense taste and aroma that might cause you to recoil. That's because when garlic is punctured, this triggers it to expel a compound called allicin. Allicin is then broken down into a number of offensive-smelling sulfuric compounds. This unsettling smell is a defense mechanism to protect the root vegetable from hungry critters.

Luckily, garlic's fight instinct can be combated with an accessible pantry staple you likely have on hand. Next time fresh garlic is threatening to run you out of your own kitchen, consider taking a cue from your beloved lemon vinaigrette recipe. When life gives you lemons, use them on your garlic. Soak garlic in lemon juice for a few minutes before using to lessen its pungency. You can also blend fresh garlic with acidic ingredients like lemon juice to create delectable dips and sauces like hummus, or coat seafood in tangy lemon garlic butter.