Have you ever heard of black garlic?  I hadn’t until last week, when I happened across a small new bin tucked in with the mushrooms at my local co-op.  The sign said “fermented black garlic.”  What?  The employees in the produce section were enthusiastic in recommending it but vague about exactly what it was.  It looked like garlic, but was slightly collapsed and shrunken, and smelled like a sweet, lightly garlic-flavored soy sauce.  It smelled good.  Into my basket it went. Later I found that wikipedia link above and determined that I had purchased either a traditional Asian ingredient or a new-fangled food entrepreneur’s invention from California, or maybe some combination (see here for the California producer’s description of how the “magic” fermentation process occurs “behind the closed doors of our patented machine”).  Apparently this stuff is all umami and antioxidants and a darling of the food cognoscenti, of which group I am not a member, so that explains why I had never heard of it.

Finding a new vegetable is a big deal for a serious eater.  A new taste experience on the horizon!  I started researching how to make the most of my intriguing head of garlic.  In the end, I didn’t find a recipe that called to me, so I adapted a potato and rosemary focaccia recipe from Food and Wine, which had in turn adapted it from a Daniel Boulud recipe.

I made two medium-sized focaccias, and I used half a head of black garlic to flavor one of them.  I roasted thinly-sliced potatoes with olive oil, rosemary, and a couple of minced cloves of black garlic, then I layered more sliced cloves of black garlic onto the potato-topped bread before baking it.  I was a little worried that I might have overdone it with all that garlic.  (The other focaccia was topped only with rosemary-roasted potato slices as a delicious control group.)So hey, it’s good bread.  But the garlic flavor is quite mild, and in my opinion the black garlic’s flavor, at least as I prepared it, doesn’t live up to the bold promise of its alluring scent and striking appearance.  But I like strong flavors, and the unexpectedly delicate garlic flavor may be a plus in your book rather than a disappointment.  In any case, the midnight-black cloves certainly lend dramatic flair.

Here’s the important question: what should I do with the remaining cloves of black garlic?  Have you used it in a preparation that you liked?  Do you have some off-the-wall inspiration to share?  I’ll give it another go.

Potato and Rosemary Foccacia with (or without) Black Garlic: In a mixer or large bowl, combine 2 1/2 tsp. yeast and 2 Tb. warm water to moisten the yeast.  Add 4 1/4 c. bread flour, 1/3 c. olive oil, 1 Tb. sugar, 2 tsp. salt, and 2 c. minus 2 Tb. warm water.  Knead or mix with dough hook for about 10 minutes until a soft dough forms, adding more flour as needed.  Transfer dough to an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 hour.

Slice a pound of Yukon Gold potatoes thinly (very thinly if you want crispy potatoes on top of your bread; about 1/8″ for slightly more chewy slices).  Toss potatoes with 1/3 c. olive oil, 2 tsp. minced fresh rosemary, and 2 cloves black garlic (optional).  Line each of two baking sheets with a single layer of potato slices, reserving the oil left over in the bowl.  Roast at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes, until tender.  Transfer potatoes to a bowl and keep those oily baking sheets handy.

Punch down the dough, divide it in two (or into 12 pieces to make rolls), and transfer to the oily baking sheets you just used for the potatoes.  Use your fingertips to press the dough into the shape you want.  Brush dough with the remaining oil from the potatoes and set aside to rise again until nearly doubled, about another hour.

Line the breads with potato slices and top with additional slices of black garlic (optional).  Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes, shifting the pans halfway through, until the bread is golden around the edges and on the bottom.  Cool on a rack.