It's not quite garlic season where I live. Most of the garlic in the shops is imported and poor quality.  But after not having used garlic all winter, I'm hanging out for the new season crop.

 

Over the last few weeks my local greengrocer has been stocking this young garlic. The individual cloves are tiny and the skin around them has not yet dried, making them impossible to peel - you end up cooking with the clove and skin. 

 

 

But the taste is heavenly. They are nowhere near as intense as the full bulbs we'll be getting in a month or so. Instead, they're juicy and have a soft, sweet garlic flavour. In the first couple of days they also make my kitchen smell, ever so gently, of a fresh, soft garlic scent. I love it.

 

I've been using this garlic in pasta sauces, and I've also been rubbing it into slices of toast and then topping with fresh, super-ripe local tomatoes. Plus I have my eye on this garlic and cardamon marinade to go with grilled vegetables or maybe I'll make some Magic Sauce.  You could also make my Sri Lankan inspired fish curry.

 

Later in the year, when the garlic season is in full swing I'll also be preserving garlic, ready for the winter months, when garlic goes out of season again.