Why some top chefs are ditching garlic in Italian cooking

Top chefs at some Italian fine dining restaurants in New York have banished garlic.

Mask-wearing during the pandemic is said to have played a role in the decision — with diners not wanting to smell their garlic breath when they put their mask on.

Celebrity chef Maria Liberati says some use garlic excessively, but that’s not how it’s used in traditional Italian cooking.

“It’s used for a perfume — just a perfume — it’s not meant to be overpowering,” she told Stephen Quartermain and Emily Power, filling in for Ross and Russel.

“It’s really not an Italian thing to use garlic to overpower a dish, so I think it’s very possible, really, to make Italian cuisine without garlic.

“It’s quite unpleasant to have that on your breath and that’s what happens if you overdo the garlic.

“It’s just not really, truthfully done in real Italian cooking.”

Ms Liberati recommends adding a whole clove to flavour oil, but removing it early in the cooking process.

“When I cook I use the whole garlic clove, I sauté it in the olive oil just a little bit and then I remove the garlic clove from the olive oil so there’s not that overpowering flavour,” she said.

Press PLAY below to hear how garlic is used in authentic Italian cooking