garlic?
How did I come to become a garlic hater? A few reasons. The first, which is most important, is that when Fred eats garlic, it literally pours out of him. Rolling over in the middle of the night and getting hit with a wave of garlic was a total killer. I could tell if he had garlic from 40 feet away. Some people can't digest it. I have gone to an exercise class and between the alcohol and garlic sweat, I want to crawl into a hole.
I began to omit garlic from anything I made. In Europe, I have found that garlic is used to enhance flavor where as in the US garlic is used to be the flavor. There is a huge difference. I have never felt that taste of garlic taking over my entire mouth in Europe like I have at restaurants in the US.
The other killer is friends who love garlic. They come to give you a kiss or speak to you and the smell alone sends me back a few feet. It is overwhelming. Not sure they even realize it. Obviously other people don't mind. Maybe I have a highly sensitive nose.
When you don't eat garlic and then have it, it is not easy on the stomach. It gives you a stomach ache. The other thing is that not using garlic in some ways is a challenge to be a better cook. People are always blown away that I hate garlic and never cook with it. Shallots do work.
Unfortunately as I have aged, heavy garlic in anything, even a pre-packaged product, kills me. I have a few friends who can't go near garlic. Kills their stomach. Garlic is very potent. To me, the smell of garlic spilling out of a restaurant on to the streets makes many people inhale the essence as heaven on earth. To me, it literally makes my stomach turn. As my father always says, I guess that is what makes horse races.