When you want a dish to have quintessential garlic flavor that permeates each bite, mince it. You can mince with a knife, or a garlic press.
Either way, you need to free the individual cloves. To do that, press down on the head with the heel of your palm. Apply firm, even pressure so the cloves don't fly all over the place.
To peel an individual clove, cut of the hard stem end where the clove attached to the bulb. Either stop the cut just short of the skin on the other side and peel the skin around to remove it, or make the cut all the way through and squeeze out the clove. The older the clove, the easier the skin releases.
You can also peel it by setting the side of your knife blade on the clove and pressing down until you feel the skin release, though not hard enough to pulverize it, or the skin will get mixed in with the garlic.
To mince with a knife, smash the peeled clove with the side of the knife. Then just run your knife back and forth across the smashed clove, chopping as you go until it's as fine as you like.
If you don't want individual little pieces of garlic and have a press, just put the whole peeled clove (or cloves, if you can fit them) in the press and squeeze. Use your knife to trim away any clinging garlic.
A caper is the pickled bud of a bush native to Asia and found throughout the Mediterranean. Capers are dried in the sun and pickled in a vinegar brine. Tangy green capers come packed in brine or coarse salt.
Capers are found in various sizes, but Southern France's nonpareil are the smallest -- and the best. Italian varieties are larger, and large Spanish caperberries are the edible mature fruit that are pickled with their stems.
The Romans used capers in fish sauces, which still works today. You can also add them to meatballs, scatter them on a pizza or smoked salmon, or mix them into all kinds of condiments and sauces.
Salt-packed capers should be rinsed of excess salt before using.
