Using a garlic press gives you the most pungent results, along with garlic’s heat. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

Whole cloves are ideal for long, slow braises or high-heat roasts; they hold up during long cooking applications. Another great way to use whole garlic is by cooking it slowly in olive oil, confit ...

If you have several cloves to peel, working one at a time can be time-consuming. This is when the shaking comes in handy.

It is indeed chicken cooked with 40 actual cloves of garlic, and it is sublime. Far from being acrid, as you would expect, the chicken is suffused with a warm, garlicky glow. But not too garlicky ...

Just adjust the cooking time appropriately. For the recipe pictured, I used ground spices, but if you want a lighter color for the sauce, use one small cinnamon stick and two whole cloves.

Cloves have a strong bite to them, so go easy with them in recipes. If you want a better control over the flavor, try piercing an onion with whole cloves for soups and broths; remove after cooking.

Dear Heloise: We always use whole cloves when baking a ham. Cloves are quite expensive, so we are wondering if they can be saved after baking, refrigerated and used a second time?

And if the thought of 40 cloves scares you, then feel free to use 38 cloves. Just tell everyone it was 40. No such deception is needed with the garlic bread I made. I used my Italian wife’s recipe.

And if the thought of 40 cloves scares you, then feel free to use 38 cloves. Just tell everyone it was 40. No such deception is needed with the garlic bread I made. I used my Italian wife’s recipe.