Raw Garlic

[LEsherick2008]

I have been hearing that eating some raw garlic every day might be good for things like colds and other ailments and is just a good thing to eat. I have been mincing finely and mashing up with some salt and maybe some chives as that's the only fresh herb that is growing in my herb garden now. Then I add to a bit of butter or olive oil spread and spreading on a half slice of whole grain bread. I eat that as a evening snack. Its spicy but it is good. I could never just pop a whole clove in my mouth. Does anyone else eat raw garlic and if so how do you eat it.

[hazelhurst]

My Russian friends eat garlic in every imaginable way. The young raw garlic is especially prized--and "hot." I love it. Then, too, these are folks who drink rassol, which is the drippings from sauerkraut.

[alkapal]

kraut juice? wow, i might like that! (but....does it give the tummy a bit of a problem?).

[ipsedixit]

Just peel and eat.

Sometimes I'll dip the cloves in a bit of Hoisin Sauce, but mostly it's just peel and eat.

[Val]

Okay, I think you win the prize for most hard-core way to eat this great food!!!

[Val]

LE, I was just reminded in another thread about dropping whole (peeled) garlic cloves into a jar of pickled jalapenos....really delicious....if you leave them in the vinegar brine overnight, they acquire the brininess and lose the bite of raw garlic and they are fabulous to eat. (just in case you are looking for another way to eat it!)

[HillJ]

When I make a green food smoothie I often add a garlic clove. With cucumbers, lettuce, carrot and even an apple the garlic is less offensive.

[justanotherpenguin]

my parents (eastern european) always ate raw garlic. would take a clove and rub it on a piece of dark rye and simply eat it. since i grew up around it, the odor never got to me. dad lived to 95, mom missed her 90th by a month!

[Caroline1]

When my daughter was around one and walking full bore, her favorite trick was to go into the kitchen when we had company and take a whole head of garlic and eat it, then come in and go from guest to guest reaching up with a big smile on her sweet cherubic face saying, "Kiss! Kiss!" Few fell for it the second time and I eventually moved the garlic out of her reach. Hey, some mothers are just slow.

[alkapal]

funny!

did she eat the peel/papery husk?
(i don't even want to think about changing *those* nappies!).

[Caroline1]

Well, there was always some on the floor, so who knows for sure? And thank heaven, she was pretty much potty trained by one. Her brother, who was 11 months older, was the one who did that. She walked at ten months, he walked at seven. I have NO idea what I did wrong!

[hannaone]

Raw garlic, jalapeno or hot green chili pepper, dipped in ssamjang and placed on top of rice, then rolled in red or green loose leaf lettuce.
Even better with Korean grilled beef or pork.

[Caroline1]

Yes, it's good for you, but it can be hard on your social life. Garlic in sufficient amounts (different for everyone) can "aromatize" your body odors and perspiration. When I lived in Turkey years ago, a saucer full of raw garlic cloves with a dipping sauce was not an uncommon hors d'ouvre in some homes. My housekeeper seemed to eat it three times a day. It's extremely hot in the summer months were I lived, and ultimately I had to ask her not to eat raw garlic Sunday through Friday or I wouldn't let her in the house.

There is a garlic dietary supplement in pill form that is said not to cause such problems. But yes, it IS very healthy. But as the old joke goes, possibly because no one will come near you so your exposure to germs is very limited.

[pitu]

a. mashed with salt, when making salad dressing - it practically liquifies
b. chopped up in a spoon of honey, if I'm taking it as a remedy

[Val]

hot damn! Never thought of using honey to wash it down with instead of water...even applesauce would probably work!

[lgss]

Or maple syrup?

[Val]

I do almost every day but especially in the winter months here in SWFL when we have so many visitors from the northern hinterlands bringing germs with them to grocery stores, movies, etc. I take mine in the mornings....crush up finely 1 or 2 cloves....let it sit for 5 minutes...then scoop it onto a teaspoon...deposit on back of tongue and chase it down with warm water...no chewing (ACK, choke!) , just swallow!!! Takes some getting used to but it's easy now. I figure why buy capsules when it's better fresh and I know what I'm getting. I do also love it raw and finely chopped in salad dressings but only do that at home, not at work.

[alkapal]

hey val, with that garlic breath, you can create a "zone of privacy" around you as you venture into the hordes at publix! {;^D.

you might've even taken down that robber at the publix on college pkwy: http://www.winknews.com/news/local/69...
<JUST kidding!>
~~~~~~
as to eating raw garlic, no, i don't. i will incorporate it raw into salad dressings, though.
but i love it in all its various stages of "cooked-ness" -- esp. just sauteed with mushrooms and butter. i'll stand at the stove and eat those sauteed portobellos right out of the skillet. they never make it to a plate.

[chowser]

Yeah, there was a guy who'd sit next to me in grad school who reeked of garlic and I always moved away from him, as did everyone else.

[Aimee]

I eat garlic off and on when I feel I'm getting sick. Do you find that taking it so regularly prevents colds and flus? I'm on the fence about how much it helps.

[Val]

I have not taken a sick day at work in 6 years and it has been at least a few years since I've had a cold. Don't know for sure if the garlic is the answer but from what I've read...it does build your immune system up, and so does getting adequate rest and not being stressed out, garlic isn't the only immune-booster, to be fair. I have to qualify this a bit and say that I don't have school-age children at home any longer...they seem to be little illness-magnets and many of my co-workers do get sick because their children bring home nasties from school. But, I don't get sick from the people I work with, either.