Black Garlic: Neutraceuticals vs #WFPB

I have friends who take black garlic (BG) as a supplement, a clove in the AM and a clove in the PM, and it works for them. In fact, I have some interesting success anecdotes, and of course different people are different, so this is never medical advice, but it is helpful to learn people’s experience. One friend, who is a serious diabetic, reported within 2 weeks of taking BG this way that her diabetic wounds, which were not otherwise closing, were now starting to heal. Another friend of a friend reported to me how she was already changing her diet, but within about 2 weeks also, her Blood Pressure was dropping and she was off her BP meds. Some of these folks are buying the Black Garlic on Amazon and paying $18/lb.

In the commercial market place, you will find black garlic supplements such as Everwell, and Elaré, and it seems as if they are competing on longer fermentation periods, Everwell speaks of 90 days, and Elaré claims 24 months. Now it is clear that the nutritional value increases somewhat with longer times, but certain other values may go down with longer fermentation periods. I could not find very conclusive literature one way or the other. However common sense would suggest that perhaps my particular type of 6 L garlic fermenter is pretty optimal. It allows adjusting from 6 to 12 days, and the temperature defaults to 75^o Centigrade, and presumably if you did 12 days, you would probably go with 70^o C, not 75. However, even if there is some increase in the nutritional value, that may matter for the folks who eat their one clove in the morning and one at night – in other words, who are using it as a supplement. But the math changes if you are simply integrating it in your food.

Black Garlic in the Kitchen

Achieving umami flavor in the plant-based kitchen requires some innovative approaches that are not immediately obvious to a traditional cook. But Black Garlic can change that forever. I find myself using about a pound of black garlic a week, plus some raw garlic that adds further to the flavor. In the process, I am reducing my use of many popular flavor makers, be it Yondu, or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos, Tamari, and other soy sauces, boullion or and so on, we are now into creating rich flavors the natural way, and Black Garlic changes the equation. You can use it in soups, sauces, in salad dressings and veggie dishes and I have a favorite snack which a Triscuit, a drizzle of honey, a clove of black garlic and a slice of jalapeño. I have even used sliced black garlic in desert, like starfruit with some sliced BG, hemp seeds and balsamic, which is out of this world. In some dishes I still use some raw garlic as well.

Since with BG you get NO garlic smell, only deep aroma, it is extraordinarily versatile, and it should simplify your cooking overall. Once you start integrating it into food, and like me, you eat two or more bulbs per day, the idea that the concentration of nutrients might be slightly higher if your processing time is longer, is no longer relevant, since you are now absorbing significant amounts of it, which is very different from eating a clove in the morning or and a clove at night, or some kind of a gel capsule. In other words, once you get this it is worth processing your own black garlic. I use a 6 Liter garlic fermenter and the typical full load is about 3-3.5 lb, and the shrinkage (due to evaporation) is about 30%, plus it uses about $2.85 in electricity, at my outrageos NYC rate of $36.5 cents. In short, on a per bulb basis, the energy cost adds about 11 cents per bulb (assuming about 25 bulbs on average in a full load, depending on the size of the bulbs). For the moment, I have used garlic from Costco at $7.99 for 2 lb with excellent results. My girlfriend uses a 7.5 liter machine, and with that she processes about 5 lbs in one go.

One store on my street is now starting to sell it at $3 for a sandwich bag, which is 2-3 bulbs, depending on the size of the bulbs. And with the success stories, the interest in Black Garlic is growing, plus it is a great conversation opener about health and nutrition. The owner of the restaurant makes a whole wheat spinach roti with Black Garlic, and he tells me that since he is eating these for breakfast, he has his bloodsugar under control. In other words, the message is, just integrate black garlic in your kitchen routine, you practically cannot go wrong. The flavor is somewhere between balsamic vinegar and tamarind, with a little date.