Black garlic wonder food

A lovely elderly neighbor gifted me these wizened garlic bulbs wrapped in paper. She told me she prepared them herself. 

I’d never even heard of black garlic, never mind tasted it. Incorporating it into my home cooking, however, is easy and imparts wonderful umami - notes of balsamic vinegar and tamarinds. It’s a versatile ingredient. 

It worked out well in stir fried rice with komatsuna. Next time I get my mitts on some, I will grill fish with a basting of black garlic paste. 

Apparently it is easy to prepare in the rice cooker. Just place the whole garlic in the cooker, set it to warm, and leave it for a week to ten days. One caution is that it’s pungent. I’m considering putting the rice cooker out on the veranda...