Skip to content
Permagora
All recipes
Ferments

Garlic confit in honey (lacto-fermented)

Two age-old ingredients meet in a jar. A few weeks later, the garlic turns sweet as jam, and the honey takes on a quiet strength.

A traditional preparation from Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. Raw honey naturally contains lactic bacteria and yeasts which, in contact with the garlic juice, trigger a slow fermentation. The garlic gradually loses its pungency, the honey becomes more liquid and acquires a complex aroma. Traditionally eaten at the start of winter in these regions.

Ingredients

  • Fresh garlic

    whole peeled cloves

    1 nice head (approx. 50 g)
  • Raw unpasteurised honey

    local beekeeper's honey essential, industrial pasteurised honey will not ferment

    About 200 g

Equipment

  • •1 glass jar of 250 ml with an easily unscrewing lid
  • •1 clean wooden or plastic spoon (no metal in prolonged contact with the honey)

Steps

  1. 1

    Prepare the cloves

    Peel the garlic carefully. Keep the cloves whole, no need to crush them, they will release their juice on their own. If some are damaged, set them aside.

    10 min

  2. 2

    Fill the jar

    Place the cloves at the bottom of the jar. Pour the honey until they are entirely covered, this is essential: no clove must stick out of the honey, or it will oxidise. Leave 2 cm of air at the top of the jar for the fermentation gases.

    5 min

  3. 3

    Start the fermentation

    Close the jar loosely (fermentation produces CO₂ that must be able to escape). Place at room temperature, away from direct light (a cupboard).

  4. 4

    Turn every day

    For the first 2 weeks, turn the jar 1 to 2 times a day so that all the cloves stay coated. You will see the honey become more liquid and bubbles appear. That is normal and a good sign.

    2 weeks

  5. 5

    Wait for maturation

    After 3 to 4 weeks, the fermentation slows. The garlic has lost its pungency, the honey has darkened. Taste a clove, it should be sweet, almost caramelised. The preparation is ready.

    3 to 4 weeks in total

Storage

Over a year in a cupboard, at room temperature. The more time passes, the milder the flavour.

How to use it

1 confit clove and 1 spoonful of honey a day at the start of and during winter. To be swallowed as is, spread on bread, or diluted in a little warm water (never boiling, to preserve the enzymes).

Health properties

  • Garlic provides allicin, with antimicrobial properties observed in vitro
  • Honey is traditionally used for throat comfort
  • Provides prebiotics (garlic fructans) that feed the intestinal flora
  • Confit garlic loses its pungency: better tolerated than raw, even for sensitive stomachs

These preparations belong to cooking and herbal tradition: they nourish and support, do not “cure” anything and replace no treatment. Ask a doctor or pharmacist before prolonged use, if under treatment, pregnant or breastfeeding, or for a child. Follow the stated storage precautions strictly.

Precautions

Botulism risk extremely low but real if the preparation is badly made: use raw undiluted honey, always keep the garlic fully submerged, discard the preparation if you see surface mould or if the jar swells abnormally (the fine fermentation bubbles, however, are normal). Not advised for children under 1 year (unpasteurised honey). People on anticoagulants: ask your doctor (garlic is a blood thinner).

Sources & tradition

  • · Eastern European and Caucasian herbalist tradition
  • · Sandor Katz, The Art of Fermentation (2012)

Continue in Ferments

Nettle, garlic and honey, lacto-fermented

Homemade raw sauerkraut

Lacto-fermented carrots with fennel and garlic