garlic problems

[rabidscottsman]

I made a pizza this afternoon and when i took it out of the oven i noticed that it was blue in color.

Was this a reaction with the sauce? The garlic looked normal when i diced it. I added it to the tomato sauce and topped the pizza with parmasean cheese, mozzerella cheese, sausage and mushrooms. The pizza was baked at 450 degrees for 10 minutes

Does anybody know what the heck happened?

[Behemoth]

There is a chemical in garlic that turns blue when exposed to acid. If you want some seriously smurfy garlic, put a couple of cloves in vinegar sometime. But putting raw garlic into acidic tomato sauce would be enough to do it too. Neat, huh? As I am a science geek but not specifically a chemistry geek, someone else will have to tell you what that chemical is. FWIW, I have read that the reaction is more pronounced in young garlic.

[Gifted Gourmet]

the blue or green color is caused by an enzymatic reaction and is perfectly harmless.

The sulfur compounds in garlic (thiols or some type) can be

broken up by active enzymes in the garlic allowing the sulfur

to react with any copper in solution. This results in copper

sulfides which is what you see as the "blue" discoloration.

The enzymes can be denatured by high temperature processing.

possibly an answer??

[lovebenton0]

And the chances of this actually occurring? I've been putting garlic with tomato on pizzas, and many other foods for about 35 years. Also in vinegar solutions. I've never achieved the blue food stage.

What am I doing wrong?

[MarkinHouston]

And the chances of this actually occurring? I've been putting garlic with tomato on pizzas, and many other foods for about 35 years. Also in vinegar solutions. I've never achieved the blue food stage.

What am I doing wrong?

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I think the age of the garlic could be the clue. I've been putting up dill pickles for over twenty years, and every so often I get blue garlic in the finished product. I doubt if the Texas State Fair would give me style-points for it!

[Gifted Gourmet]

My understanding is that the enzymes are more abundant in immature

garlic ... so clearly this is a case of age being preferable .. not unlike us older women ...

[fifi]

There was a thread here somewhere recently about this same topic. I'll be darned if I can find it, though.

I have pickled and escabeched jalapenos for years. I noticed that folks really groove on the garlic cloves. I got into some particularly lovely peppers, went to the Asian market and snagged some really fresh and succulent garlic. I put up jars of about half and half peppers and garlic. The garlic turned out this most astonishing blue. That had always puzzled me until I read the recent thread. Then I realized that the house I owned at the time had copper pipes.

[Toliver]

There was a thread here somewhere recently about this same topic. I'll be darned if I can find it, though.

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Here it is, fifi

[fifi]

yep... I remember that one now. Maybe there was another one? I remember that one of our brainy sorts came up with the enzyme, acid and copper ion thingy. That wasn't any of my wisdom.

[amyknyc]

OK, ever make the same dish over and over with no problem and one night you make it and something totally different happens and you just want to scream why WHY WHY?? that's me this morning.

So, last night I made tofu stir-fry and if there was ever something as reliable as a staple in my apartment, this is it. It is my go-to meal when I don't feel like cooking. There are buckets of marinade in my fridge for precisely these nights. I could stir-fry with my eyes closed. Here's what happened:

I always use my all-clad stainless steel wok (i know, I know, it was a wedding gift) and grapeseed oil. I start by heating the oil and once it's hot, i toss in a generous amount of minced garlic and ginger. Well, last night, I tossed it in and the garlic immediately started to stick to the bottom of the wok. I added more oil, but there was already a fair amount in there and the sticky garlic turned into this burnt glue that ended up coating the bottom of the wok. Metal spatulas couldn't scrape the stuff off.

This has never happened to me before and now I'm scared to make my go-to dish! Was the oil not hot enough? too hot? too sparse? could the garlic have been bad (there wasn't any green in it, but who knows)? I'm open to any diagnosis....

[fifi]

I am totally guessing here...

When I have fallen into a particularly fresh and juicy batch of garlic, I have noticed that it practically oozes when dicing and is even more "sticky" than the usual garlic. It is a real pain to dice. If you were dealing with that kind of garlic it may have had more than the usual amount of "sugars" in it, that may be the root of the problem.

[snowangel]

I agree with fifi.

Also, I have two kinds of garlic. When I bought both at the farmer's market (I don't remember what the names of these were), she said one was for using raw and one for using in cooking. I know that the cloves of the "salad" garlic are much juicier and the flesh is almost transluscent.

[Busboy]

OK, ever make the same dish over and over with no problem and one night you make it and something totally different happens and you just want to scream why WHY WHY??    that's me this morning.

This has never happened to me before and now I'm scared to make my go-to dish! Was the oil not hot enough? too hot? too sparse? could the garlic have been bad (there wasn't any green in it, but who knows)? I'm open to any diagnosis....

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Don't Panic! Go back to your go-to dish!

Fifi's ideas sound good. Also, give the garlic a little stir as you add it, so even if it is determined to stick it doesn't get a chance.

And remember, sometimes shit just happens, for easons only the Kitchen Gods know. Take a deep breath, check your garlic, your recipe and your karma and cook it again. It will be fine.

[FistFullaRoux]

Maybe coating it in a bit of oil first, before adding it may help...

[amyknyc]

OK, I'm liking the idea that this was somehow the garlic's fault. Any idea how to tell the juicy garlic from the less-juicy kind? I'm not sure my garlic is labeled at the local veggie place -- it's just thrown in a bin.

I will definitely try to coat with oil first -- that seems like a good call.

[fifi]

I never see garlic labeled here so I am completely uneducated on the characteristics of the different varieties. Other than the obvious extreme of the old garlic where you can feel that the skin has pulled away, I really can't tell. As I recall, some exceptionally juicy garlic was a purple skinned variety, large cloves, very firm, and a bitch to peel.

[eunny jang]

There are two kinds of garlic - the sort with a woody stem in the middle of the bulb, which is kept for long storage nad what you probably have in your supermarket bin, and the sort, uh, without, I guess, which is much younger and "juicier". I find that the older sort gives me less trouble when cooking at high heat with it.

Though few of us have much choice when it comes to garlic - at least for me, it's pretty much luck of the draw - I'd say keep cooking your stir-fry with what you have on hand, and order out when it doesn't work

[winesonoma]

I never see garlic labeled here so I am completely uneducated on the characteristics of the different varieties. Other than the obvious extreme of the old garlic where you can feel that the skin has pulled away, I really can't tell. As I recall, some exceptionally juicy garlic was a purple skinned variety, large cloves, very firm, and a bitch to peel.

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Get your self one of those rubber tube things to peel garlic. Makes short work of it.

Edited November 11, 2004 by winesonoma (log)

[fifi]

I never see garlic labeled here so I am completely uneducated on the characteristics of the different varieties. Other than the obvious extreme of the old garlic where you can feel that the skin has pulled away, I really can't tell. As I recall, some exceptionally juicy garlic was a purple skinned variety, large cloves, very firm, and a bitch to peel.

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Get your self one of those rubber tube things to peel garlic. Makes short work of it.

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I have every garlic peeler known to man. None of them worked on this stuff. It was great garlic, though. I actually went back and got more, roasted a whole half sheet full, and still have some jars of it in the freezer... best I ever made.

[buttercup]

I cut up cauliflower florets. Tossed with OO, lemon, garlic, S&P. Put in oven to roast at 400F. 12 min later checked it and the garlic in the dish had turned this really strange blue color. It does not look like an okay food color. It smells pretty pungent too.

What happened. It really looks frightening. Is there any saving this mess?

[annanstee]

Don't worry about it.

Garlic contains a compound to react with acids (here, the lemon) to produce a greenish blue colour. You will see the same thing in pickled garlic too.

It won't taste different or hurt you.

ETA

Compound - anthocyanins

Edited October 3, 2006 by annanstee (log)

[buttercup]

Don't worry about it.

Garlic contains a compound to react with acids (here, the lemon) to produce a greenish blue colour. You will see the same thing in pickled garlic too.

It won't taste different or hurt you. 

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Thanks. Got eGullet trigger happy because it really was toilet cleaner blue! I will just keep cooking and hope I can avoid a blue cauliflower puree. Since I am serving with veal, maybe the color is a good thing actually

[annanstee]

Don't worry about it.

Garlic contains a compound to react with acids (here, the lemon) to produce a greenish blue colour. You will see the same thing in pickled garlic too.

It won't taste different or hurt you. 

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Thanks. Got eGullet trigger happy because it really was toilet cleaner blue! I will just keep cooking and hope I can avoid a blue cauliflower puree. Since I am serving with veal, maybe the color is a good thing actually

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Yes- it is a pretty scary colour.

[andiesenji]

The best way to avoid this is to roast the garlic for about 20 minutes before you mix it with the other ingredients, particularly any acid.

[buttercup]

The best way to avoid this is to roast the garlic for about 20 minutes before you mix it with the other ingredients, particularly any acid.

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Thanks... should always keep some of that good stuff around!