I eat quite a lot of garlic - I love to cook rich pasta sauces, and they are alwasy heavily laden with garlic . The problem I have though, is garlic, like onions, makes me cry when chopping it . It also makes my hands smell very strongly of garlic, which takes a lot of washing to get rid of .

So, a jar of pre-chopped garlic seemed like the ideal solution to my problems , and on a trip to my supermarket I found just the right product - Very Lazy Garlic from the English Provender Company. The jar is very simple, clear glass with a black lid and a black label, proclaiming the product name - Very Lazy Garlic- across the front, and also informing us that the garlic is preserved in a white wine vinegar . It cost me £1.80 for a 200g jar.

I was a little concerned that the taste of the vinegar would come out in my food when cooking, especially as vinegar is actually the main smell you get when opening the jar , although at least the garlic isn't swimming in it . One teaspoon of this garlic, which is very finely chopped, is equivalent to one clove of garlic .

I've used this a few times in bolgnese sauces, on pizzas, and with garlic mushrooms, and I'm glad to report that you don't taste the wine vinegar . But, you don't seem to taste the garlic very much either - it's there, but it seems as though preserving it has made it less potent . So, I find myself using more teaspoons of this than I would use if I were using cloved garlic .

Aside from the mild taste, another disadvantage of this is that some of my favourite recipes call for roasted garlic - and I just can't roast this garlic as it's too fine . So, I've found myself reverting to fresh garlic again, complete with tears and obsessive hand washing .

I do think this is a good product in that it saves time and is very convenient, but it just doesn't really pack a punch . For those who only like a mild garlic hint, this may be ideal . But I like my flavours to pack a wallop, and this just doesn't do that.

I won't be buying this again, but I'll use up the rest of the jar to avoid wasting it . Sadly I can only give this product 3 stars .