Aioli

The French for garlic is ail, and this week’s recipe if for aioli, a thick emulsion of garlic, oil, and (usually) egg from the Mediterranean. Nowadays you see the name used for all sorts of flavored mayonnaises – wasabi aioli, pomegranate aioli, that sort of thing — but if it’s not thick as butter and redolent of garlic, it’s just not aioli.

Aioli

2-5 peeled cloves of garlic, depending on size, pungency, and how much you like garlic
sea-salt, pepper
1 tsp. fine white breadcrumbs (made from several day-old bread)
1 very fresh egg yolk
1 cup oil (1/2 cup mild oil such as grapeseed, canola, safflower, plus 1/2 cup good olive oil)
1-2 tsp. lemon juice

Use a pestle and mortar to bash garlic with a large pinch of salt and breadcrumbs. Once you’ve mashed garlic to a sticky paste, scrape it into a non-reactive bowl and add egg yolk.  Blend well with an electric hand-held whisk. Measure the two oils into separate small jugs or squeezy bottles. Start dripping in the milder oil, very slowly, beating well to incorporate each addition completely before adding any more.  When the aioli thickens—once it’s “taken”– you can start trickling in oil in a little stream, beating all the while. When the aioli gets thick as butter, loosen it with a little lemon juice or water. Continue beating in oil, finishing with olive oil, until the aioli is extremely thick and glossy. (If your aioli ever fails to thicken, or “ breaks,” not to worry. Pour it into a jug. Put a fresh egg yolk in a bowl, and gradually whisk in the broken aioli, a bit at a time, as if making mayonnaise. You could do this in a food processor, if you prefer.) Check aioli for seasoning, adjusting salt, pepper, lemon juice to your liking.  Store covered in the fridge until serving time.

Aioli often accompanies poached salt cod, or other fish, and chicken. It’s delicious slathered on grilled bread with Mediterranean fish soups and stews. It’s great with vegetables such as cooked beans, small carrots and potatoes, and raw vegetables such as fennel and radish. You can use it in sandwiches. Some people just spread aioli on bread like butter, or eat it by the spoonful. They will remain nameless.

Note: the Silva family has chicks for sale at their farm – please inquire at their market stand.