Can’t believe I’m asking this at age 60…..

When you work with garlic and peel off the skin of a clove before mincing… do you cut off the little woody stub at the bottom? I always have but feel like I’ve watched shows lately where people aren’t doing that. Your thoughts?

I do the same as you, but I'm only 81.

I almost always discard it, unless I'm sauteeing garlic as an aromatic for a big pot of beans or something like that, where it will be buried so deep that it doesn't matter.

I cut it off if I’m going to mince it, not it I’m going to press it.

[Jenise]

I always trim it. There are probably a few occasions such as what Rahsaan mentions where it wouldn't be necessary in the end--say a stock (and in that case I wouldn't even peel it). But 95% of the time I'm making a salad dressing or a sauce where I'd want the garlic to dissolve and wouldn't want that woody bit lagging behind, so it's just a habit to trim it.

What Jo-Ann said. There are a bunch of Chinese recipes where you stew/steep garlic, ginger, and other aromatics then discard the solids and use the infusion to flavor the dish. In those cases I just peel and crush the garlic cloves and don't trim the base. It's not necessary to peel the fresh ginger for that procedure, either. If the garlic is to be sliced or minced and will be in the final dish, I trim off the knob at the base of the clove.

-Paul W.

Count me in the usually-trim crew. I think the theory is that it can taste bitter in addition to having a troublesome texture.