The mere word evokes visions of warmth, comfort, and a certain irrefutable pleasure. It’s a staple, a classic, and a go-to side dish for dinners by generations, from the comforting pasta course to the humble green salad. Its lasting popularity is due to its simplicity just garlic, butter, and bread, isn’t it? But for all its simple, unadorned loveliness, the pursuit of sublime garlic bread is a gastronomic journey that dedicated home cooks doggedly continue.
1. Garlic Bread: A Beloved Classic Ready for Reinvention
We yearn for that ideal combination: garlicky heat, creamy fattiness of butter, delicate hand of herbs, and the subtlety, yet impossible-to-miss, kick of salt. When all these ingredients combine in happy toasty goodness, it takes a good meal and makes it an even better something special, like you’re getting an extra little bonus something on top.
And wouldn’t it be wonderful if the best part of it all could be upped to something more than the comfort food norm, taken beyond the familiar boundaries of this comforting favorite and brought to a higher level of taste? What if the key to garlic bread paradise lay in a simple, oft-overlooked product on your shelf? The path to culinary stardom is through disrupting established wisdom and accepting the unorthodox. For cooks dedicated to the highest level of gastronomic performance and elevating their cooking with deep comprehension, the secret is in the ability to admire the subtle harmony of ingredients, even those at first glance that are polar opposites.”. It’s true, it’s all about breaking down complicated food issue to show a whole picture, going all the way deep in the very ‘why’ of ingredients and technique.
2. The Pantry Surprise Champion
Anchovies as the Umami Game ChangerWell, our search for better garlic bread can take us some interesting roads far away from the usual mix of herbs, garlic, and butter. Whereas the majority of additions that could be added to us would be a sprinkle of extra Parmesan cheese to bring out the umami, or some chili crisp for texture the find for the refined palate usually presents itself in the most unlikely of places. It is in the usually-lamented, yet deeply flavorful, can form that we have a high capacity to enable new levels of flavor and texture to our garlic bread.
Now, naturally, some will have an immediate vision of the beautiful textural and sugary contrast given by the easy addition of kernels of canned sweet corn to the herby, buttery mixture, creating a vibrant innovation on a tried classic with a more textural delight, but our focus is here on another, perhaps more revolutionary, canned giant. This ingredient, typically peacefully residing in the pantry, possesses the unique quality to introduce richness and dimension to the taste of garlic bread in a way that you even catch yourself pausing and saying, “Wow, this is amazing!” without being able to put your finger on exactly why.
This is the defining feature of the sublime cookery: an ingredient which lifts the whole to unimaginable heights without which it could not happen, but which does so in such a subtle and deep way. The everywhere ingredient that causes offense, a flavor-packed pantry item wherein, used with restraint, no other has any equal in richness and depth, is, naturally enough, the humble anchovy. To some, the very name anchovies is divisive, conjuring visions of a overwhelming, fishy, and inescapably salty fish. Not hard to understand, actually, to the extent that their overwhelming, on-the-line flavor is singular in fact.
And it is this intensity, this concentrated energy of the sea, which makes anchovies the ideal, nay even fate-ordained, sidekick to garlic bread.
Anchovies add a depth of umami flavor that can elevate even the most mundane dish. Used judiciously, they are a foundation note that adds depth to all other flavors in the garlic bread. Like the savory depth of aged cheese or caramelize onions, anchovies add richness to the entire experience, delivering a deeper and more satisfying result.
Garlic Bread
Equipment
- 1 Microwave-safe dish or small saucepan
- 1 Broiler/Oven
- 1 Basting Brush For even application of garlic oil
- 1 Sharp Knife For splitting bread and cutting chunks
- 1 Cutting Board
Ingredients
Main
- 4 cloves garlic crushed
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 loaf crusty bread split
- 3 tablespoons grated cheese Parmigiano or Romano, optional
- Chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Combine garlic, butter, and oil in a microwave safe dish or in a small saucepan. Heat garlic and butter and oil in microwave for 1 minute or in a small pot over moderate-low heat for 3 minutes.
- Toast split bread under broiler. Remove bread when it is toasted golden brown in color. Brush bread liberally with garlic oil. Sprinkle with cheese, if using, and parsley. If you added cheese, return to broiler and brown 30 seconds. Cut into chunks and serve.
Notes
3. Anchovies and Garlic
A Strong but Balanced PairThe brilliance of adding anchovies to your garlic bread recipe is that they have the powerful quality of being able to provide a kick of umami. Umami, also referred to as the meaty, savory richness, is one of the five fundamental tastes, and it is one of the major building blocks in developing rich, full flavors. Consider the richness of an old Parmesan cheese, the earthy savory quality of mushrooms, or dark caramelized onion these are all descriptions of umami. Anchovies are really super-heroes of this subtle taste, with a rich flavor profile that contributes depth and a degree of sophistication and richness of savory depth that other ingredients can simply never manage.
This bitter, savory umami is not a garnish; it’s an architectural addition that supports every other flavor in the dish. If we look at typical garlic bread ingredients the pungency of the garlic, the fattiness of the butter, the herbal brightness of the herbs, the peppery burn of the chiles each adds a characteristic note. Without a proper umami foundation, however, these notes, as much as one might enjoy them, sometimes can feel a little detached. This is where anchovies enter the spotlight in the world of cuisine as a key player. Anchovies are a perfect analogy to garlic of the same intensity but contrasting character. This is to say they counterbalance garlic’s pungency with their own but instead of cancelling each other, they reinforce. The salty, pungent umami of the anchovies does not just sit alongside the garlic; it wraps itself around it, rounding it out to create a more subtle, multi-planar flavour landscape.
It is not dominating the dish with anchovies but doing that delicate marriage of flavours that creates truly outstanding cooking.
Garlic and Cheese Popovers
Equipment
- 1 Blender
- 1 12-count Popover or Muffin Pan
- 1 Small Mixing Bowl
- 1 Whisk or Spatula for compound butter
- 1 Measuring Cups and Spoons
Ingredients
Main
- 1/2 cup 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons anchovy paste
- 1 tablespoon chopped chives
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper optional
- Vegetable oil cooking spray
- 6 large eggs at room temperature
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 2 cups whole milk at room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups 3 ounces finely grated Asiago cheese
- 1/4 cup 1-ounce shredded sharp Provolone cheese
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
Instructions
- Butter: In a small bowl, mix together the butter, anchovy paste, chives, lemon juice, and lemon zest until smooth. Season with salt and pepper (if using), to taste.
- Popovers: Put an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a 12-count muffin or popover pan with vegetable oil cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a blender, add the eggs and garlic. Blend on medium speed until frothy, about 15 seconds. Add the milk and the cheeses and blend until smooth. Add the flour, salt, pepper and parsley. Blend on medium speed until incorporated. Pour the batter into the muffin cups, filling each cup to within 1/4-inch of the top. Bake, without opening the oven door, until puffed and golden, about 30 to 35 minutes. Remove the popovers from the oven and serve with the anchovy butter.
Notes
4. Technique Rules
Proper Preparation Is KeyThe alchemical strength of anchovies is best demonstrated in the manner in which their pungent, typical flavor does not overpower the garlic bread but subsumes it and streamlines it subtly. Used sparingly, the anchovy flavor itself seems to be absorbed by the butter mixture. No magic disappearing trick here, but rather a sign of its role as a flavor enhancer, a gentle support note that adds depth and fills out the profile without necessarily screaming its existence. It adds a richness that makes one wonder what mysterious ingredient is causing the garlic bread to taste so amazingly good, rather than immediately thinking of it as fish.
It’s the contrast between cold melody and full, lush orchestra the added richness makes the overall experience all the deeper and more satisfying. The key to this clever blend is careful planning in advance and a sense of sensitivity to the ingredient’s natural potency. Considering that anchovies are strong little fish, a little does go very far. Too many, however, has the impact of being that blinding, over-whelmingly fishy flavor we try to steer clear of. For a whole loaf of bread, for instance, which will call for around eight tablespoons of butter, one anchovy will suffice. This very exacting science lets the umami aspect punch strong without overpowering the delicate mix of the garlic butter.
It’s all about using their potency for depth, and not for dominance. Furthermore, preparation of the anchovy itself is necessary in order to get maximum benefit. A convenient and efficient step that gets them a good distance towards enhancing their contribution is rinsing them. Rinsing the anchovies and drying them thereafter accomplishes two jobs: it actually removes any excess oil that may be on the surface and, more importantly, tones down their flavour slightly. The residual oil, if not washed off, can hinder the butter’s emulsification, risking an uneven texture or distribution of flavour.
It tempering the flavor by rinsing that can elicit the anchovy’s inherent umami more cleanly, so that it can contribute savory depth without bringing overt fishiness to the table and thus enable its own secretions to pass unobserved into the butter mixture while enhancing overall flavor. Not to be underestimated is the way that the anchovy itself is folded into the butter. It is essential that it is actually able to get lost in the butter, imparting its flavor evenly through the spread. This is done by chopping the anchovy into fine pieces so that there are no unwanted large chunks of anchovy spread through the butter. A very good mince enables the anchovy to break up and become part of everything, so that each mouthful of garlic bread has that intense, enriching flavor without any texture shock. For perfect convenience and even distribution, a food processor is a great tool for this; just add all the garlic ingredients and whizz until they are mixed through.
Or, if one prefers a shortcut, one can always skip the choping and substitute 1/2 teaspoon anchovy paste, providing an equally pleasing but even more convenient means of imparting that coveted umami taste to the butter mixture.
Cheese Crostini with Anchovy Herb Butter
Equipment
- 1 Small heavy skillet For melting butter and dissolving anchovies.
- 1 Large Baking Sheet To arrange bread slices for baking.
- 1 Pastry Brush For evenly applying the anchovy herb butter.
- 1 Sharp Knife For chopping herbs and cutting crostini.
- 1 Cutting Board For preparing ingredients and slicing bread.
Ingredients
Main
- 1/4 cup 1/2 stick butter
- 4 anchovy fillets drained, chopped
- 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon minced lemon zest
- 1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes
- 12 2 by 1/3-inch thick slices rustic crusty white bread
- 1 cup grated Provolone
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Melt the butter in a heavy small skillet over medium heat. Add the anchovies and stir until they dissolve, about 3 minutes. Stir in the herbs, garlic, lemon zest, and crushed red pepper.
- Arrange the bread slices on a large baking sheet. Brush with the anchovy mixture. Sprinkle with the cheese. Bake until the cheese melts and the bread is golden, about 10 minutes. Cut the bread slices in halves and serve.
Notes
5. Other Ways of Delecting Garlic Bread with Texture, Heat, and Depth
A sprinkling of sugar or honey imparts sweetness to balance garlic’s bite. Balsamic vinegar provides bite and depth to cut richness. Adventurous spice enthusiasts can add cayenne, paprika, or chili oil for flavor and color. Crunch comes from chili crisp or kernels of sweet corn and contrast of flavor and texture. Flavorful aromatics of scallions or onion powder build on the base, and creamy elements like mayonnaise or ranch add richness and crunch.
These imaginative additions are used to make garlic bread infinitely versatile, but anchovies cannot be topped for sneaky savory richness. It is all about technique and experimenting in the end, finally. Use the proper bread, apply butter equally, and establish the perfect cooking method, and each plays a role in the ultimate bite. Grilled for smokiness or oven-baked for meltiness, each one determines flavor. Even making a do-it-yourself garlic bread bar with toppings allows guests to discover for themselves. By not being afraid of ingredients such as anchovies and by adopting considerate techniques, cooks at home can turn garlic bread into a main event with deep, satisfying layers of flavor.
