Masha
Every so often, the Internet blesses us with a seemingly-miraculous life hack that forces us to beg the question: “Why didn’t anyone think of this sooner?” For example, that hack for getting wrinkles out of your sneakers using nothing more than a pair of old socks, a towel, an iron, and some hot water. Or the hack where you place your phone inside of a clear baggy and hang it off the tray in the airplane seat in front of you. Or, that hack that went viral a few months ago that proved we’ve all been eating pineapple wrong our entire lives. (Mango, too.)
The hack du jour teaches viewers how to peel a head of garlic almost instantaneously using a thick paring knife and…I don’t know, a little razzmatazz? A video recently uploaded to Twitter by user Valentina Pestilenez demonstrates the process, which is really just sticking a knife into the top of each clove and whipping it from the stem all lickety-split. Somehow, all those pesky flakes stay away.
https://twitter.com/VPestilenZ/status/1140437217619390465
“As someone who makes a lot of Korean food, this is the best method for getting garlic peeled,” she captioned her video, which has already garnered over 405,000 likes, 19 million views, and nearly 10,000 replies. One of these replies was from the Mayor of Twitter herself, supermodel and chef Chrissy Teigen who summed it up perfectly when tweeted in reply: “WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT.”
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT https://t.co/tLEl5BtQr3
— chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) June 17, 2019
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 18, 2019
Apparently, this is one of those ‘hacks’ that is actually easy and possible, unlike a number of similar ones that are actually somehow impossible IRL.
It worked for me! This person is obviously more proficient, but in principle it worked; the garlic just popped out when I stabbed and twisted it. I feel so betrayed for not being taught this before. (Knife on left worked best.) pic.twitter.com/imoKUcLjag
— Patrick Alba (@patrickthealba) June 17, 2019
it does I just tried it. mind blown.
— Very Legal and Very Cool Elayne (@chatelaineri) June 17, 2019
Yep – works perfectly! Trick is to twist it off rather lift straight upwards.
— Kate Stove (@MissStove) June 17, 2019
Works perfectly, just tried and better if Clove takes from root side of bulb first
— John Glennon (@Johnglennon5) June 17, 2019
Seems like the knife needs to be not too thin and sharp?
— lo montanaro rozzo e salvatico🐀 (@KaviMontanaro) June 17, 2019
…Though some cooks are having far less success with this garlic hack than others.
We have tried it in our office and it DOES NOT WORK
— Rebecca Reid (@RebeccaCNReid) June 17, 2019
— (@ShmullyWolfson) June 17, 2019
Including someone (but who??? Not Alton. Definitely not Alton) at the Food Network.
TBH we tried this and couldn't get it to work 🤷🤷 #GarlicGate https://t.co/rUPpsKBbqc
— Food Network (@FoodNetwork) June 17, 2019
It seems as though the garlic does have to be prepped in some way first (like peeling the top layer?), and a *very* sharp and somewhat wide knife is necessary, and a particular wrist motion must be employed, and that this is not something you should attempt if you feel like you might slice your hand open on accident.
OK. I just tested this. I think it *could* work w/ a little more practice, but there’s a definite learning curve, and I think you at least have to peel the top layer first.
(Ignore my grown-out manicure and #BelowDeck in the background. Though both are v on-brand for me, tbh.) pic.twitter.com/CxAHVbd2Ov
— Meghan Elizabeth (@BitterMeg) June 17, 2019
In the meantime, people’s minds continue to explode.
Learned something more useful from this one tweet than I did in 4.5 years of my PhD. https://t.co/umMtvRuyJV
— Umair Javed (@umairjav) June 17, 2019
How have got this far in life without knowing this?….mind blown…. https://t.co/GiQie3uClg
— Patricia Bright (@PattyOLovesU) June 17, 2019
https://twitter.com/BootstrapCook/status/1140704881700941824
https://twitter.com/carmenmmachado/status/1140605950920990725
Revelatory!! Also, I can't stop watching… https://t.co/jlbcsrnb0H
— Ree Drummond – The Pioneer Woman (@thepioneerwoman) June 17, 2019
This is life changing.
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) June 17, 2019
We reserve judgement as to the efficacy of this ‘hack’ until the Twitter Mayor herself tests it out.
