This Viral Garlic Recipe Doesn’t Work
People usually look for the easiest way to do something, be it holding a burrito upright , eating pineapple, or peeling garlic. I appreciate this drive not only because it fuels my entire career, but also because I am very lazy.
But sometimes the easiest way to do something is actually not easy at all. Sometimes “hacks” require certain skills, and skills are things that need to be practiced. Just because something looks casual in a video doesn’t mean it is. (I think you all know where I’m going and what video I have in my head as I type this.)
The internet learned a lesson yesterday when we collectively tried to replicate this viral video of peeling garlic.
The video is mesmerizing – seductive. With a simple twist of the (pocket?) Knife, the garlic cloves are gently pulled out of the sticky paper without breaking, crushing or shaking in the jars. Given my profession, I should have tried this, but I already knew it probably wouldn’t work. Not only did it not work for me, but according to Twitter, it didn’t work for anyone, not even America’s Test Kitchen . In fact, Helen Rosner – a man who eats very well – is currently seeking medical attention after trying.
Not that I thought the video was faked, or that Twitter user Valentine Lord was actively trying to cheat, it just seemed very unlikely that anyone would be able to do it with any kind of garlic. When I couldn’t get this viral pineapple trick to work , a lot of people were quick to explain to me that I tried it with the wrong pineapple, and that I didn’t even have access to the right kind of pineapple. Likewise, some people, including former Lifehacker EIC Alan Henry, have suggested that our failure is to use “regular” garlic instead of solid:
If so, it would be useful to include this information in a video, but caveats rarely go viral. This, however, speaks to a more important point: Twitter is a limited platform, and generally, if a hack suddenly appears and it seems too elegant, too simple, and too good not to enter the hacking zeitgeist yet, it is probably , not this way. as simple as it sounds. Even with the “right” kind of garlic, this maneuver requires at least a little bit of knife work, which almost always takes some practice. I first learned about this when I tried to imitate my mother and peel apples and peels with a knife at the tender age of 10. I didn’t cut myself, but I tore a few apples and I still cannot peel and core. apples with the same grace as my mom, who, as the eldest of seven and a mother of three, has been peeling apples for children for decades.
Cooking is a physical activity that requires doing a little annoying, and sometimes tedious, dirty chores. The garlic is sticky, odorless and always with a little pain in the buttocks. While microwaving and shaking the jar can speed things up, especially when handling large quantities, the scientific oven can deactivate some of the onion enzymes (although I don’t notice the taste difference) and I never get an empty jar. To smash it with a knife that I already have in my hand (and will still have to wash it) and rip off the sticky little skins is totally usable and – since I’ve been doing this maneuver for years – fast enough to find a jar or an addition of a clove in the microwave will add time.
Good techniques save time and effort, but mastering a skill – be it working with a knife or using the correct firing technique – can save even more, especially if you get past the initial practice cost. I love the label – heck, I even support you buying pre-peeled garlic if cooking makes you sad – but learning how to cut various foods with a knife is something everyone who loves to cook should know, not just for expediency, but for your safety around the sharp blades.
The garlic video looked too good to be true, and it did. While I was able to neatly remove one (1) clove with a sturdy paring knife, I also destroyed five more before giving up. Despite what you are told on the Internet (and sometimes I am), you probably haven’t “done it wrong” all along.