Topic: Real garlic or puree out of a tube?

[SnS]

I had a Jalfrezi takaway from Saffron last Saturday which is always excellent. The head chef (Anam) explained that he always uses fresh garlic and red onions in his Jalfrezi.

Last night I cooked a Jalfrezi using my June 2008 base. Instead of the usual garlic puree out of a tube, I used 2 x fresh garlic cloves, crushed through a garlic press. The difference in taste was really noticeable. I will not be using commercial garlic puree again!

Has anyone else noticed this difference?
Who uses fresh home made garlic puree - who uses commercial?

SnS

[Curry King]

I use both as and when, I have currently got a jar of each from tesco's which I have been using.  When they run out I will probably have a go at Panpot's paste. There is a difference but I think with the jarred pastes it is less so.

[Jeera]

I've got back into using fresh garlic and ginger recently generally. I bought one of those micro plane graters which is brilliant for getting a fine paste.

I always have a garlic bulb in the fridge now and I use a fresh clove whenever i need one - they last a few weeks in the fridge without going off.

I noticed a real difference when using it in Italian pasta sauce - the fresh taste is much better. To be honest my recent curry attempts are really far away from where  I need them to be so garlic and ginger is the least of my problems. I've lost the plot in what I'm doing wrong now - I'm getting worse at this. I need to go back to some old, old recipes & methods to see if I'm really getting worse or I've always been this bad.

Back on topic, I suspect many BIRs would be tempted to use pre-bought pastes - takes ages creating your own in bulk.

[JerryM]

i buy my garlic by the kg and think nothing of using a whole bulb on a curry night - finely chopped not as a puree - probably not much difference in the taste but if not chopped finely can be off putting to some - hence the puree would be better in terms of presentation.

as for the commercial stuff - not worth the paper ...

[Secret Santa]

Unless trhe varieties of ginger and galic pastes that I've used are just coincidentally naff, I wouldn't touch either with a very long barge pole. They have a very distinctive and offputting taste to me. For me it has to be fresh all the way, usually pureed.

[CurryOnRegardless]

I find its the preservatives they put in the commercial stuff that are really off putting, I can smell that phoney garlic smell on other peoples' breath from about ten yards away and it repeats on me something chronic, yuk yuk and thrice yuk! Haven't touched the stuff in years.

[chinois]

Fresh. The bottled stuff doesnt really taste like the real stuff! Also hand chopped is better than using a garlic press. Those presses do strange things to garlic. They separate it into 'garlic juice' and 'garlic matter', which is not what you're after when making a puree. I've found a blender is better than a press.