What black garlic is
There is no culture and no brine. It is whole garlic held warm for weeks, and the change is a slow Maillard reaction — the same browning that makes bread crust taste of more than flour.
What it tastes like
Sweet
Closer to dried fig or tamarind than to raw garlic.
Balsamic
A slow acidity that lifts fat — butter, cream, lamb.
Soft
The texture of a soft date. It spreads rather than chops.
Not pungent
None of the raw bite. Nobody will know you had it at lunch.
How we make it
- 01
Choose
Whole bulbs, graded to size, from a single field so a batch behaves consistently.
- 02
Warm
Into the chamber at a low, steady heat. No culture, no brine — just time.
- 03
Wait
Weeks rather than days. We finish a batch when it tastes right, not on a schedule.
- 04
Settle
Out of the chamber, rested until the moisture evens out, then packed.
Six ways to start
- Squeezed onto warm bread with good butter
- Whisked into a vinaigrette, one clove at a time
- Folded through mash or a bean purée
- Under the skin of a chicken before roasting
- Blended into aioli with nothing else added
- On the cheese board, whole, beside something hard and salty