I use minced garlic in a jar. I think you should know that about me. I once owned a garlic peeler and a garlic press and aspired to use fresh garlic, but what actually happened is that I stopped using garlic altogether.
A few years ago a friend introduced me to minced garlic in a jar and I was smitten. I had no idea such a thing existed. My cooking was once again infused with wonderful garlic. And we were happy.
Recently however, there have been little articles popping up like this one which says how inferior it is and a whole host of other things, like how it probably has added chemicals (Ew! Chemicals!) and how it is soaked in water, and how I can’t make things with sliced garlic because I guess maybe garlic in a jar and fresh garlic can’t exist in the same refrigerator. Or something.
I’m sure it is inferior to fresh garlic. I completely believe that. I also don’t care in the slightest. My family isn’t complaining (much) about my cooking, and I am really not aiming for gourmet here. Simple, nutritious, and reasonably yummy are my goals.
I completely take exception to the claim that “It only takes 45 seconds to mince a real, fresh garlic,” or “It only takes 2.5 seconds to push a garlic clove through a garlic press.” Those claims are complete hooey. On a TV kitchen set that might apply, or for someone who has a specific drawer for each specific tool and knows it will get put back there when the dishes are put away. But I don’t live in that universe. Here is how it goes for me:
I get out a cutting board, which is not where it usually goes, oh, it’s only on the other side of this cupboard.
I get out a knife. Who put these knives away? Were they trying to make me cut off my finger? Dig, dig, find the appropriate knife.
Now I have to find the garlic. It’s not on the door where the nice big jar of minced garlic sits, coaxing me sulkily. I dig through the drawers of the fridge, I dig to the back of the shelves. (This is the downside of having little people help you put groceries away.) I look in the freezer because you just never know… I finally call my husband into the room for the task because he can find anything. He found it. Oh there it is! Behind the coffee in the pantry! Of course, how silly of me.
So I guess this is when my “45 seconds” starts? I peel and mince the garlic, and put it into a bowl until I am ready for that part of the food preparation.
Then I have to wash all that stuff!
Or I could open a jar, spoon some garlic out at the exact moment I need garlic and then only be adding one spoon to the washing up. I will gladly sacrifice a little garlic flavor for that kind of ease.
But what about the allegations that this jar of garlic is full of terrible things? I was at a Pampered Chef show last week where the salesgirl told us that using fresh garlic would save us all sorts of money, because how much do those little jars cost? Probably a lot! And she was pretty sure they had terrible things in them like preservatives and formaldehyde.
Whatever.
First of all, my beloved jar from Costco (equivalent to 272 garlic cloves) set me back $4.19. I can guarantee you I couldn’t buy that much fresh garlic for that amount.
Secondly, the ingredients are garlic, water, and citric acid. See?
I am completely comfortable with every one of those ingredients. It’s even practically local!
But that is not my only confession. I also purchase non-natural peanut butter. The kind that doesn’t go in the refrigerator or need to be stirred. Again, it is about time and simplicity. Ain’t nobody got time for stirring peanut butter these days. Truth be told, I tried to switch to natural peanut butter. My family responded by completely boycotting peanut butter. Okay fine! I’ll buy the other stuff! And when another mom points out that she “would never feed that processed stuff to her family!” (That really happened!) I will shrug and take another bite of my sandwich, and make a mental note not to let her see my Honey Maid graham crackers and their high fructose corn syrup.
My point here is that I have picked my battles. These are some of the battles I did not pick. I’m okay with that now, but it took me a long time to realize that every time someone talked about a health threat, real or imagined, I wasn’t abusing my family if I didn’t jump right on their bandwagon. I am not a complete nutritional heathen to decide that some issues in the news are not worth the extra time or stress to deal with. If I find out later that they are more important, I will make the changes necessary.
In the mean time we will dip our Honey Maid graham crackers in organic whole milk.
What are some battles you didn’t pick?