Do as my grandmother did: mix garlic and cloves, it’s a secret that no one will ever reveal to you

That sounds like something a grandmother would say with a wink 😊
Garlic and cloves together show up quietly in a lot of old-school cooking, especially Southern and Creole kitchens—but no one ever wrote it down, so it stayed “secret.”

What that combo does:

• Garlic brings savory depth and warmth

• Cloves add a subtle, sweet spice and aroma

• Used sparingly, the cloves don’t taste “clovey” at all—they just make everything taste fuller and richer

Grandmothers often:

• Crushed 1–2 whole cloves and cooked them with garlic, then removed them later

• Or added a pinch of ground clove (really tiny) to greens, stews, or beans

• Never measured—and never admitted what made it taste so good

So the secret isn’t really the ingredients…
It’s knowing when to stop.

That’s how grandma cooking worked.