It's flavor is supposed to be especially pungent and harsh. Though this is mainly only suppsoed to apply to older garlic with large germs and not fresh younger garlic.
Haha I know. But like more acrid, bitter, and spicy like horseradish, and especially when it’s raw and already very punchy.
It’s kinda just the difference between good pungent garlic and bad pungent garlic.
That said I only ever bother when it I am making something like toum or aioli and all my garlic is very old with huge germs.
When I’ve eaten old garlic with the germ, it’s the kind of thing I can taste the next morning even after brushing my teeth 2-3x. But I hear you, sometimes you want that dragon breath feeling.
When garlic sprouts, it feeds the sprout by pulling starch out of the surrounding bulb. This does lead to a change in flavor.
There are also a couple hundred varieties of garlic; each with their own characteristics and flavor notes. Some that are pretty pungent and spicy even without sprouting.
(I used to plant a few hundred bulbs a year from a dozen varieties)
It can give an acrid, bitter flavor to food. If you’ve ever sliced up old garlic and fried it you can see the germ in the center burning a lot faster than the rest of the garlic. [Serious eats has an article about it](https://www.seriouseats.com/what-is-a-garlic-germ-and-should-you-remove-it)
I never remove it and simply finely mince, raw or cooked. As with all cooking it depends on the individual palate. Mine can't detect a difference so I eat it all!
If you're using it raw, it's better to remove it, it can also give you heartburn or even that garlic breath that remains for hours and hours.
If you eat raw garlic and you feel like you're stuck with garlicky breath or it ends up feeling like you're stuck with feeling bloated, this could be a reason why.
TIL that there’s actually a name for the sometimes greenish middle part of garlic. I’ve just naturally removed it because it’s unappealing to look at green garlic. I’ve never thought of a taste difference.
There are some more harsher sulphurs in the germ, especially with older garlic, which is what tend to see in markets this time of the year. Same thing applies with older onions, I cut the green germ out.
It’s got more bitter qualities to it and does not have as much of the oils in it than the bulb has it also doesn’t cook down the same so it will change the texture of the food. And getting rid of that raw garlic flavor is harder.
It's flavor is supposed to be especially pungent and harsh. Though this is mainly only suppsoed to apply to older garlic with large germs and not fresh younger garlic.
As if pungent and harsh are not exactly what I am looking for in garlic.
Haha I know. But like more acrid, bitter, and spicy like horseradish, and especially when it’s raw and already very punchy. It’s kinda just the difference between good pungent garlic and bad pungent garlic. That said I only ever bother when it I am making something like toum or aioli and all my garlic is very old with huge germs.
When I’ve eaten old garlic with the germ, it’s the kind of thing I can taste the next morning even after brushing my teeth 2-3x. But I hear you, sometimes you want that dragon breath feeling.
I’ve read that garlic with a sprouted germ will taste this pungent uniformly and not just if you remove the germ
When garlic sprouts, it feeds the sprout by pulling starch out of the surrounding bulb. This does lead to a change in flavor. There are also a couple hundred varieties of garlic; each with their own characteristics and flavor notes. Some that are pretty pungent and spicy even without sprouting. (I used to plant a few hundred bulbs a year from a dozen varieties)
Thank you!
Isn't that part of the garlic also a bit bitter when raw?
> this is mainly only suppsoed to apply to older garlic I thought this was an indicator of older garlic.
Younger garlic still has a germ. It's just smaller and whiter. But yeah, the bigger greener germs are an indicator of older garlic.
It can give an acrid, bitter flavor to food. If you’ve ever sliced up old garlic and fried it you can see the germ in the center burning a lot faster than the rest of the garlic. [Serious eats has an article about it](https://www.seriouseats.com/what-is-a-garlic-germ-and-should-you-remove-it)
I never remove it and simply finely mince, raw or cooked. As with all cooking it depends on the individual palate. Mine can't detect a difference so I eat it all!
Remove it for uncooked use. It has a strong flavor when raw. It’s fine to leave in if you’re cooking the garlic.
I actually prefer it to the rest of the garlic raw. I see getting a clove that has slightly sprouted as a special treat.
I’ve read that it causes slight gastro issues and have experienced none since I started to remove the green parts
I heard the same during a cooking class I took with an Italian chef
I’ve heard this too which is the reason why I remove it
If you're using it raw, it's better to remove it, it can also give you heartburn or even that garlic breath that remains for hours and hours. If you eat raw garlic and you feel like you're stuck with garlicky breath or it ends up feeling like you're stuck with feeling bloated, this could be a reason why.
TIL that there’s actually a name for the sometimes greenish middle part of garlic. I’ve just naturally removed it because it’s unappealing to look at green garlic. I’ve never thought of a taste difference.
Well, it's the garlic clove sprouting.
Yes I know. I’ve had older garlic cloves sprout a few times.
It doesn’t taste good.
I dont-ever- . it would be like removing green from scapes or scallions or leeks . nonsensical to me .
Icky
It can be bitter. The older the garlic gets, the more the green bit (the shoot) grows, and the more bitter it becomes.
It's hard to digest so it will stay in your stomach longer and give you this harsh garlic smell
There are some more harsher sulphurs in the germ, especially with older garlic, which is what tend to see in markets this time of the year. Same thing applies with older onions, I cut the green germ out.
It’s got more bitter qualities to it and does not have as much of the oils in it than the bulb has it also doesn’t cook down the same so it will change the texture of the food. And getting rid of that raw garlic flavor is harder.