FLUFF-What is your reaction to this quote?

he sounds like a jerk here.

I see it two ways. "You deserve to eat the best" or "I'm angry at you and if you're not savvy enough to eat fresh garlic then you shouldn't eat, cause you're a sloth".

It's either "giving the best to yourself shouldn't be a treat, but it should be the norm" or "you're a tacky idiot who shouldn't be allowed good stuff".

To me this reads as:
Either use fresh or don't use garlic at all.

I use both and fresh is definitely better. But if I don't have fresh, I will use the jar stuff.

I go in streaks with garlic and every time I buy fresh I use 1 or 2 cloves and the rest goes bad. The jarred stuff is just easier for me. Call me lazy.

He sounds like a food snob, but I believe anything you devote your life to can make you feel superior. You can tell the difference in taste, and your senses about a certain topic are heightened. You can hear it here sometimes when people are very passionate about specific topics.

I don't doubt he's wrong about the difference in taste, but most people just don't care.

I thought it was funny. I LOOOOOOOOVE garlic. I am the laziest cook on earth, but the one shortcut I don't use is jarred garlic. It just doesn't taste the same to me (and my Mom uses it all the time, so I'm not speaking from ignorance). I thank Rachel Ray (who I find annoying to the extreme, but give kudos where deserved) for introducing me to smashing garlic. I can smash and chop a clove including pealing in less time than it takes to open the refrigerator and open a jar. Yes he's speaking in hyperbole, but I still thought it was funny.

Since he’s no longer with us, I’ll not voice my personal opinion of him. I’ll stick to my thoughts on that one particular statement. As phrased, I agree it sounds pretentious and sanctimonious.

I do a fair amount of every day, ordinary cooking. We seldom eat out. I much prefer using fresh herbs, and things like fresh garlic and ginger. but hey - real life gets in the way and dried and jarred herbs, garlic, and ginger are a lifesaver. It’s not always feasible and affordable to have fresh on hand at any given time.

I’m not a gourmet cook, so refusing to only use fresh garlic is not a hill I’m willing to die on.

ETA - I always have fresh ginger root in my freezer - unless my DD borrows it and I forget to buy more. It’s divine in stir fry!

Also, during the pandemic, fresh garlic and ginger, and even the jarred, was almost impossible to find. As it is, I sometimes have to go to two or three stores to find fresh ginger. It’s definitely not stocked like it used to be.

My first thought..what a snob.

Not everyone has fresh garlic laying around, pre-diced jarred garlic is great to have on hand.

A few thoughts...

First off this was said early in his career and honestly he grew a lot.

With that said, I will die on this hill that fresh is best. Americans have really started to heavily rely on processed food items.

Now before the peas come at me, I realize that his statement is a bit snobbish. And I know that there are people who deal with depression, lack time/energy and would rather spend the 1-2 minutes it takes to peel and cut/grate/mince garlic on something else, or those with physical limitations. It's not cool to put down people who live differently.

But back to my original comment, there are way better options than jarlic.

Paste. Frozen. Fresh peeled cloves in water.

There really is nothing better than the smell and taste you get from fresh garlic.

But again, if you use jarlic cool. Not judging.

I just won't ever use it.

And no knee jerk reaction from me. I followed Anthony during his career. He had a knack of allowing each piece of food items used to be tasted. He knew his ingredients and brought them to life. He traveled and brought so many not known cuisines to people. He really loves food and I miss his shows.

I mean, I am sure he is correct. However, I consider myself lucky if one of us has time to cook dinners at all, so if jarred garlic makes it easier, then that's what I'll do. I don't think my palate is refined enough to tell the difference once the meal has been cook anyway.

He's a chef, so 🤷‍♀️

It's like a wine connoisseur sharing their opinion on Two Buck Chuck or boxed wine.

I don't take stuff like that personally.

It's like the time my nonscrappy SIL worked on a baby book for my niece, and all I could see was the big globs of liquid glue she used for small embellishments. She didn't know about the Xyron sticker maker adhesives until I told her about them. Once I told her about it, and bought her an X, then she started to use it. Nonchefs may not know the difference in flavor between fresh garlic and jarlic, they're just trying something outside of their wheelhouse.

It sounds snobby and makes me laugh because it sounds like him. Yes, fresh is best, but you make do with what you can get sometimes. It is what it is.

Knee-jerk reaction?

Being a TV chef, he's allowed to voice his opinion. I have the right to my own opinion. I'm not going to take it personally.

After a little thought?

He's right that fresh garlic has a different flavour from bottled, but they each have their place in cooking. I also prefer fresh garlic, but I usually buy it chopped and frozen. I started doing that while I was ill, when I embraced every small saving in energy. Onions too. And I still do it now. So I have a compromise between pickled and fresh.