Black garlic blooms

Black garlic – an aged variety of the allium that is praised for its umami-rich flavor – is mainstream in many Asian cuisines. While black garlic appears on only 1.5 percent of U.S. restaurant menus, its appearance on menus has risen more than 137 percent in the past four years, according to Datassential.

Today, chefs in the U.S. are using black garlic across a broad swath of cooking styles.

Sprout Salad Company, with three locations in the Twin Cities, offers Balsamic Black Garlic dressing.

For a limited time, from late August through early September, chef Jessica Koslow of Sqirl in Los Angeles served smoked, fried Jerusalem artichokes with fried citrus and black garlic aioli at Seaport District NYC’s Food Lab.

At new San Diego restaurant Trust, chef Brad Wise serves ricotta agnolotti with sunchokes, black garlic streusel, truffle, panna and basil.

STK Chicago is serving seared Hokkaido scallops with white and green asparagus and black garlic.

The Drink Your Vegetables cocktail at Ever Bar in Hollywood, Calif., includes silver tequila, curacao, agave, black garlic and gai lan broccoli.