Nose vs. Palate.

• Position: What's New? Winter Gear & Food Fest - Onion, garlic products - Brief Article

Many people are turned off by the aromas of garlic and onions, but few can deny how they enrich flavor. As complements to a vast variety of dishes, or even eaten alone, they do wonders for any meal. Accordingly, put us solidly in the palate column in this ongoing argument.

Sort of conceding the sniffers' complaints, The Stinking Rose, a proudly proclaimed garlic restaurant in San Francisco and Beverly Hills, trumpets the herb's aroma in its name. To spread the word beyond its California base, the restaurant has put out a wide range of garlic-flavored products--pasta sauce, salad dressing, extra virgin olive oil, barbeque sauce, and potato chips --as well as garlic-stuffed olives and pickled garlic. Each adds that wonderful pungency the innocent-looking white bulb imparts. Unless you come from a long line of vampires, ignore whatever objection you might have to the smell and dig right in.

Onions have less of an olfactory...