There's a brand of feta cheese salad cheese, (only feta cheese made in Greece can be called that these days) that does these little tubs that have cheese cubes, garlic cloves and olives in oil sold at a ludicrous markup. The thing is that the garlic cloves in those tubs are :chefs-kiss:. They're slightly softer than actual raw garlic but still crunchy and have an amazing mellow garlic taste to them.
You can find jars of pickled garlic in supermarkets but those are made with a vinegary brine that makes the cloves soft and mushy and gives them a tangy pungent flavour.
I tried peeling a bunch of garlic cloves and putting them in a jar with herbs and spices and filled it with rapeseed oil, but even after marinating in the fridge for a week they still just taste and feel like raw garlic. Got any tips?
Be careful putting raw garlic in oil. Pretty sure botulism loves that stuff.
Boiled the jar, also kept it in a fridge. Don't intend on sitting on the contents forever either
Maybe just pop them in the oven on a baking sheet for a few minutes before adding it to the oil? Just sounds like they're slightly cooked.
Sounds like it could be garlic confit? Very low and slow roasted garlic in olive oil. No idea if they match with your textures though
I think ZestyDwarf might've been onto something with their speculation that the oil isn't actually involved in the marinating/cooking process at all and is just there to be consumed 🤔
Looking at garlic confit recepies now it does look pretty good though 👀
I've consumed a significant amount of these garlic treats over the years, and though I don't know how to make an I have a thought on ur process. The oil they come in (either green herbs or chili/paprica) are there to give a little flavour as a sort of dressing. The taste and texture of the garlic themselves I suspect is from some pickling process. They have a subtle tangy vinegary taste, so I think they are pickled in vinegar/sugar/water mix or just vinegar/water, no idea if hot or cold. Then the oil is just for consuming em dirrectly.
The pickled garlic you can get on its own is way mushier and tangier though :thinking-about-it:
Can't talk on the taste being off except for the tangyness.. the chew on it is what I've experienced with em.. while you get the odd straight up mashable soft disappointment, they usually have a nice crunchy bite.. but if there's no tangyness at all then it's probably another product :)
Listen, it's just not camembert if it's not made by the ancient smelly cheese wizards of France
In the USA we have the freedom to call any old bullshit "camembert" as long as it contains less than 20% sawdust and/or mouse droppings
You should be able to put any amount of rat feces you want in your cheese and the consumers should be able to vote with their wallet if they don't like it :ancap-good:
I think a light poaching would be the simplest solution.
Just some softly boiling water and drop them in. But how long? I don't know...if it was me, I would fish one out every 30 seconds and drain, let cool and taste.
Also, it may be that some ice water to drop in after poaching to hard stop the cooking, that would definitely give you total control.
Peel your garlic into your jar. Bring your brine to a boil. Pour your hot brine into your garlic jar. Put a weight on top to keep the garlic submerged. They're edible when cool or store them in brine to pickle them, oil if not.
