Bread is so good, there may be a whole business dedicated to convincing you don’t need or must eat it, however even the weight-reduction plan industrial advanced is not any match for wheat, water, yeast, and salt. Bread doesn’t want our assist, however that doesn’t imply we are able to’t zhuzh it with a fast garlic rub.
I’m not speaking a few garlic flavored spice rub, however the bodily act of rubbing a halved uncooked garlic clove on a bit of bread—the crustier, the higher. The sturdy crumb roughs up the reduce floor of the pungent allium, imparting a good and mild, however nonetheless detectable, basis of taste.
This trick works greatest on a bread with some heft to it. Attempt it on a bit of white sandwich bread, and the bread will tear, however a baguette has the gluten to face as much as a little bit of massaging. Should you’re nervous about compromising the construction of your bread, you may all the time toast it first. (Toasted bread can actually shred a garlic clove.)
Executing this little maneuver is straightforward. Peel a clove of garlic, and slice it in half, tip to base. Seize some crusty or toasted bread, and slice it as wanted to show the crumb. Rub the reduce aspect of garlic on the crumb. You’ll understand it’s “working” once you odor garlic, and the clove begins to look just a little roughed up.
You should utilize this methodology to make a straightforward garlic bread (fry the bread in olive oil or butter, rub it with garlic, and season with salt), or rub it on a crusty Italian roll earlier than piling on the cured meats. It’s additionally the simplest option to give your bruschetta, mushroom crostini, or avocado toast a touch of aggressive garlic taste, earlier than layering on the toppings. (Further credit score if a type of toppings is one other type of garlic, like garlic confit.)
