Whether you’re cooking up an Italian, Indian or Asian dish, chances are your recipe calls for a clove or two of garlic. While this vegetable add bags of flavour to food, its papery skin and pungent flesh can make it a pain to peel.

Here are some hacks to take the hard work out of doing so:

CRACK IT

The quickest way to peel a clove of garlic is using the side of a wide-bladed knife. Place the clove on a chopping board and, using the heel of your hand, press down on the knife blade — see video below.

Don’t apply too much pressure: the idea isn’t to squash the clove, but rather to crack the skin making it easy to peel it off.