Garlic in a new hue: Black

Black garlic? Yes, indeed.

It is nothing more than garden-variety garlic, Allium sativum, that is fermented with heat for 30 days and packaged to sell for twice the price, but the taste is entirely different. You can eat it raw or cooked without experiencing heartburn or garlic breath.

And while black garlic is not entirely new, it is most likely new to you.

First imported from South Korea by a California-based company, BlackGarlic.com, in 2008, black garlic appeared in dishes at Bix in San Francisco and Le Bernardin in Manhattan. It showed up among the ingredients on the Food Network's Top Chef and Iron Chef America shows. It has appeared on some local menus (Fork, Zahav). And you may be inclined to try it at home in 2010.

You'll find it at Wegman's in Cherry Hill (a two-ounce bag for $4) or Iovine's in the Reading Terminal Market (two bulbs for $5.99).

Such is the price of fame, and, maybe, health.

Brian Han, who works in sales at BlackGarlic.com, says the company's initial intent was to market it as a "natural food medicine," which is the other hot trend in home foods for 2010.

"It is high in antioxidants," Han says, "but we found out that to get the benefit, you have to eat a whole lot of it."

Soon after, Han says, "Bix restaurant used it on a lamb chop and everybody heard about it and that's how we changed our marketing."

At Fork restaurant in Old City, chef Terence Feury, who abhors trends, says he got samples of black garlic in the summer of 2008 and used it in a sauce with roasted corn for his soft-shell crabs. Loved it, he said, but when the soft-shell season ended, he somehow never went back to it.

"That's the way it is with some ingredients," Feury says. "Fennel pollen came and went."

But black garlic is nothing to ho-hum about, Feury says. "It packs a lot of flavor into a small package. I really liked it."

Just as kimchi is fermented cabbage, black garlic is garlic that has been fermented with heat.

"Nothing else," says Han. "No soy sauce added, like some people think."

When heated at a fairly high temperature for 30 days, the natural sugar in the garlic is drawn out and the result is a bulb with a tan exterior and peeled cloves that are black.

(By the way, elephant garlic is a different variety, more closely related to a leek. It has a very mild garlic flavor and a texture that's more like a potato.)

Han says the company is moving toward buying more of the stuff from California growers instead of importing. For now, he sells it online fresh in bulbs, peeled in jars, as puree in jars, and as a concentrated juice for use in salad dressings and in cooking soups and stews.

Peeling the cloves will leave a bit of residue under your fingernails and on your cutting board. But black garlic is nowhere near as messy as salsify. (You remember salsify, of course. That was the "in" root vegetable of the year in 2006. But salsify left a white, gooey substance on cutting surfaces, and added little in the way of flavor to compensate for the mess and bother.)

"I love black garlic," Zahav chef Michael Solomonov declared in a recent interview. He describes the sweet but savory taste as between tamarinds and dates.

Steep it in warm water for three to four days, he says, then puree before adding it to a recipe. That way, the flavor is not as pungent and won't overwhelm the dish.

Solomonov adds black garlic to the seasonings in ground veal for his grape leaves, but says it also works in soups. And he imagines making a black garlic ice cream when the weather warms up.

"Or steep in vodka for a Bloody Mary," he says dreamily.

I tried it at home several ways: spread on a cracker and topped with a bit of smoked salmon (great); sliced thin and baked into the crust of white pizza (very yummy); mashed and cooked briefly with balsamic vinegar and white wine as a sauce for seared scallops (see recipe) and blended with Amaretto and sherry as a poaching sauce for fresh nectarines (see recipe).

My guests agreed that eating a sliver raw on a cracker is the best way to get to know the flavor of this ingredient before cooking with it.

Black garlic is not a substitute for white garlic. I didn't try it in the classic Italian recipe Chicken With 40 Cloves of Garlic, but my bet is that you'd want to use far fewer than 40 cloves, and the result would be an Asian, not an Italian, dish.

Dan Vena, the fourth generation in the family at Vena Produce in the Food Distribution Center, is a local distributor.

"I took some home and messed around with it," Vena said. "People are scared of it at first, but it's pretty cool stuff."

Makes 4 servings

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4 ripe tangerines

2 cloves peeled black garlic, very finely chopped

3 ounces dry sherry

3 ounces almond liqueur (e.g. Amaretto)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

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1. Peel the tangerines, separate into segments and remove the seeds.

2. Put the remaining ingredients in a small saucepan and heat until simmering.

3. Add the tangerine segments and poach for 8 minutes.

4. Remove the tangerines and place them in a glass serving bowl.

5. Reduce the juices in the pan until a syrupy consistency is reached.

6. Pour the juices over the tangerines.

7. Chill until ready to serve.

Per serving: 157 calories, 1 gram protein, 21 grams carbohydrates, 17 grams sugar, trace fat, no cholesterol, 3 milligrams sodium, 2 grams dietary fiber EndText

Makes 4 servings

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16 extra-large scallops (about 1 1/2 pounds), patted very dry

Coarse salt

Freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons butter

3 cloves black garlic, thinly sliced

1/4 cup white wine

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

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1. Season the dry scallops with salt and pepper.

2. Heat two tablespoons of the butter in a large frying pan over high heat; when the butter bubbles, gently lay the scallops in the pan, allowing enough room so that they do not touch.

3. Sear the scallops, cooking about 4 minutes, turning once. They should be golden brown on both sides. Transfer to a serving platter.

4. Add the remaining tablespoon of butter to the hot pan, plus the garlic slices, and fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour the white wine and the balsamic vinegar into the pan and turn down the heat. Simmer for one minute, seasoning with more salt and pepper and the fresh parsley.

5. Pour the sauce over the scallops. Or serve on a bed of linguine, tossed with extra virgin olive oil and chopped fresh herbs.

Per serving: 264 calories, 26 grams protein, 6 grams carbohydrates, trace sugar, 13 grams fat, 74 milligrams cholesterol, 456 milligrams sodium, trace dietary fiber EndText