Pickled garlic

Serve the cloves with a ploughman’s lunch, a cheese board or cold meats. Chopped pickled garlic also adds a sharp, savoury bite to sandwiches and potato salad.

Yes. Chop it into a warm pan sauce just before serving, or scatter it over roast vegetables after cooking; prolonged heating blunts its tang.

No. Drain the cloves and taste one first; if the brine is too sharp or salty for your dish, rinse them briefly under cold water.

Keep the jar in the fridge, use a clean fork and keep the cloves beneath the brine. Follow any shorter storage instructions on the jar.

Garlic can turn blue-green when compounds in it react with the acidic brine; the colour alone does not mean it has spoiled. Don’t eat it if the jar is leaking, its seal was broken before opening, or you see mould.

Not as a like-for-like swap: pickled garlic brings vinegar tang and a softer bite. It works well chopped into dressings, mayonnaise or sandwich fillings, but won’t give a dish the same pungency as fresh garlic.

Usually not: pickling softens garlic’s sharp bite and adds a pronounced vinegary flavour. Try a little first if you’re adding it to a recipe that calls for fresh garlic.