Make the Best Sandwiches, Toast and Crostini With a Quick Garlic Rub

Bread is so good that there is an entire industry dedicated to convincing you that you don’t want to or shouldn’t eat it, but even the dietary industrial complex can’t compare to wheat, water, yeast and salt. Bread doesn’t need our help, but that doesn’t mean we can’t quickly rub it with garlic.

I’m not talking about a garlic-flavoured condiment, but the physical act of rubbing half a raw clove of garlic onto a piece of bread—the firmer the better. The strong crumble roughens the cut surface of a spicy onion, giving it a smooth and delicate yet palpable flavor base.

This trick works best on bread with some weight. Try it on a slice of white sandwich bread and the bread will tear, but the baguette has gluten in it to withstand a little massage. If you’re worried about ruining the texture of your bread, you can always toast it first. (Toasted bread can actually crush a clove of garlic.)

This little maneuver is easy to do. Peel the garlic clove and cut it in half, with the tips towards the base. Take some crispy or toasted bread and slice it as needed to expose the crumb. Grate the crumb with the cut side of the garlic. You’ll know it “works” when you smell the garlic and the cloves start to look a bit grungy.

You can use this method to make a simple garlic bread (sear the bread in olive oil or butter, rub it with garlic and season with salt) or rub it on a crispy Italian bun before topping the jerky. It’s also the easiest way to give bruschetta, mushroom crostini, or avocado toast an aggressive garlic flavor before layering. (Additional credit if one of these fillings is another form of garlic, such as garlic confit .)