3 ms·

> Don't be afraid to add more garlic. More garlic almost always equals more flavor. This is a big reason why Italian cuisine is so consistently delicious. It's

> Don't be afraid to add more garlic. More garlic almost always equals more flavor. This is a big reason why Italian cuisine is so consistently delicious. It's not unusual for me to use 15-20 cloves of diced garlic when making dinner for two. As an Italian with a passion for cooking, I'd like to say that too much of every ingredient is just too much. A plate is a balance of different flavors, and while garlic does enhance the flavour of a dish, I believe that a dish for two with 15-20 cloves of garlic will taste mostly... of garlic! Garlic is not just a neutral enhancer of taste (or otherwise it could be used with everything, while there are some recipes in which garlic is not an ingredient), but it's presence is quite felt. While garlic does play a big part in Italian cuisine, I think one of the reasons Italian cuisine is so delicious is that, through its simplicity, it manages to balance a few ingredients very well, allowing them all to appear and compensate each other. Adding a ton of garlic upon everything does not play well with this and probably makes every dish taste like garlic.

stcredzero 7y ago
Korean American here. Garlic is important in many Korean dishes as well, to the point that there are apocryphal stories of soldiers during the Korean War being located by the smell of garlic. (Which I accord as much likelihood as the same happening from the ping of M1 Garand clips. Which is to say, probably a myth.) Korean cuisine has many similarities to Italian cuisine, in that many dishes are a balance of complimentary flavors between relatively few ingredients, with certain ingredients (red chili paste, garlic, scallions, sesame oil) being prevalent in many dishes -- but not all dishes. Korean cuisine is also prone to being presented as a stereotype of its traditional self, due to these factors. I've noticed a pattern in the United States, where something very strong or particular is deemed good, and people start using it to excess. This has been true of Garlic for several decades now. (I've been guilty of it too.) I think the same phenomenon is behind things like the so-ubiquitous-it's-obligatory highly bitter IPA, and extremely potent hot sauce. It's like people gravitate towards particular highly salient markers, then apply those or buy those to excess. People like something because it produces a good effect when it's well applied in balance, then other people gravitate towards the marker, not the well-balanced effect. The easy recognition of something salient becomes a substitute for taste. I think there's lessons here for how people evaluate other people, and for how fads in software develop over time as well.

stcredzero 7y ago

Korean American here. Garlic is important in many Korean dishes as well, to the point that there are apocryphal stories of soldiers during the Korean War being located by the smell of garlic. (Which I accord as much likelihood as the same happening from the ping of M1 Garand clips. Which is to say, probably a myth.) Korean cuisine has many similarities to Italian cuisine, in that many dishes are a balance of complimentary flavors between relatively few ingredients, with certain ingredients (red chili paste, garlic, scallions, sesame oil) being prevalent in many dishes -- but not all dishes. Korean cuisine is also prone to being presented as a stereotype of its traditional self, due to these factors. I've noticed a pattern in the United States, where something very strong or particular is deemed good, and people start using it to excess. This has been true of Garlic for several decades now. (I've been guilty of it too.) I think the same phenomenon is behind things like the so-ubiquitous-it's-obligatory highly bitter IPA, and extremely potent hot sauce. It's like people gravitate towards particular highly salient markers, then apply those or buy those to excess. People like something because it produces a good effect when it's well applied in balance, then other people gravitate towards the marker, not the well-balanced effect. The easy recognition of something salient becomes a substitute for taste. I think there's lessons here for how people evaluate other people, and for how fads in software develop over time as well.