Aioli

For the Occitan newspaper (1891-1899), see L'Aiòli.

Aioli of garlic, salt, egg, and olive oil in a mortar

File:Aioli mit Oliven.jpg

Aioli with olives

Aioli or aïoli (/aɪˈoʊli/ or /eɪˈoʊli/; Provençal Occitan: alhòli [aˈʎɔli] or aiòli [aˈjɔli]; Catalan: allioli [ˌaʎiˈɔɫi]) is a Provençal sauce made of garlic, olive oil, egg yolks, and lemon juice. There are many variations, such as excluding egg yolk or lemon juice, or adding other seasonings. It is usually served at room temperature. The name aioli (alhòli) comes from Provençal alh 'garlic' (< Latin allium) + òli 'oil' (< Latin oleum).

Aioli is, like mayonnaise, an emulsion or suspension of small globules of oil and oil-soluble compounds in water and water-soluble compounds. Egg yolk can be used as an emulsifier and is generally used in making aioli today. However, mustard and garlic both emulsify oil, and some variants, such as Valencia allioli and Maltese aljoli, omit the egg.

Since the late 1980s, it has become fashionable to call all flavored mayonnaises "aioli", with flavorings such as saffron, chili, and so on. However true aioli is defined and derived only from techniques used only by hand ("flavored mayonnaise can contain garlic, but true aïoli contains no seasoning but garlic".

Origin

Aioli is similar to the Levantine toum.

Basic recipe

Garlic is crushed in a mortar and pestle and emulsified with egg yolks, salt, and olive oil, then lemon juice is added. Today, aioli is often made in a food processor or blender, but traditionalists object that this does not give the same result.

Serving

In Occitan cuisine, aioli is typically served with seafood, fish soup, and croutons, in a dish called merluça amb alhòli. In Malta, arjoli or ajjoli is commonly made with the addition of either crushed galletti or tomato. In the Occitan Valleys of Italy it is served with potatoes boiled with salt and bay laurel.

In Provence, aioli or, more formally, le grand aïoli, aioli garni, or aïoli monstre also designates a complete dish consisting of various boiled vegetables (usually carrots, potatoes, artichokes, and green beans), poached fish (normally soaked salt cod), snails, canned tuna, other seafood, and boiled eggs, served with the aioli sauce. Other commonly used vegetables are beets, fennel, celery, zucchini, cauliflower, chick peas, and raw tomato.

This dish is often served during the festivities on the feast days of the patron saint of Provençal villages and towns. It is traditional to serve it with snails for Christmas Eve and with cod on Ash Wednesday.

Aïoli is so strongly associated with Provence that when the poet Frédéric Mistral started a regionalist, Provençal-language, newspaper in 1891, he called it L'Aiòli.

Similar garlic sauces

Similar sauces are found elsewhere in the region.

Allioli

Allioli (pronounced: [ˌaʎiˈɔɫi], also spelled alioli [ˌaɫiˈɔɫi]), from all i oli, Catalan for "garlic and oil", is a typical paste-like cold sauce of Catalonia, Balearic Islands and Valencia. It is made by pounding garlic with olive oil and salt in a mortar until smooth. It is often served with arròs a banda from Alicante, with grilled lamb, grilled vegetables and arròs negre, and comes in other varieties such as allioli de codony (allioli with boiled quince, not the preserve) or allioli with boiled pear.

Aillade

Aillade is the name used in southern France for two different garlic-based condiments. In Provence, it is a garlic-flavored vinaigrette, while in areas such as Languedoc-Roussillon, it is the name given to aioli.

See also

• Skordalia, a Greek garlic sauce
• Mujdei, a Romanian garlic sauce
• Toum, an Arabic garlic sauce
• List of common dips