Let’s say you’re going to take a bath. Your tub holds 50 gallons of water, and you can soak up to your chest in it. But, instead of 50 gallons, you only put 1 gallon of water in the tub…

Now—instead of your bathtub, water, and you– consider a skillet, oil, and minced garlic. To get the maximum flavor out of an aromatic vegetable such as garlic, it must be coated with oil. The coating seals in the garlic’s water and prevents it from being released, which would dilute the garlic’s flavor. Also, since fat both intensifies and conveys flavor, the oil coat transmits the garlic flavor to the surrounding oil and eventually to all the other ingredients in the dish—which is the goal, after all.

This system works as long as the oil in the skillet is deep enough to coat the garlic. But what happens when you use only a small quantity of oil, say 1 tablespoon, in a 12″ skillet (which I often do)? That’s more than 113 square inches! (Remember A = пr²?) If you spread your single tablespoon all over the pan at the outset, the layer of oil will be too thin to coat the garlic effectively. As the pan heats up, the garlic will release its water in the form of steam, diluting the flavor you’re trying to impart. However, if you keep the oil in a little pool, the layer will be much thicker in that small area than if you were to spread the oil around. When you add your minced garlic to this small area, it will behave as it would in a skillet containing much more oil. After the garlic releases its flavor to the oil (i.e. when it becomes fragrant), you can distribute it over your entire pan and proceed with your recipe.

So, if you want to keep flavor high and fat or calories low in your cooking, pool your oil!