To make aioli, crush two to four garlic cloves to a paste with coarse salt, whisk in an egg yolk and a teaspoon of lemon juice, then add three quarters of a cup of oil drop by drop, whisking until thick enough to hold a spoon upright. Short on time? Fold the garlic paste and lemon into a cup of good mayonnaise instead.
What is aioli?
Aioli is what happens when garlic refuses to be a background ingredient. In Provence the name literally means garlic-and-oil, and the strictest old versions contain nothing else, pounded in a mortar until the garlic itself emulsifies the oil. The practical modern version adds an egg yolk, which makes the emulsion stable enough for ordinary kitchens and ordinary patience.
The restaurant habit of calling any flavored mayonnaise an aioli has muddied things, but the real distinction is simple: in mayonnaise, garlic is optional and neutral oil is standard. In aioli, garlic is structural, crushed to a paste with salt so it dissolves into the sauce instead of riding in it as flecks.
What goes in aioli?
- ·2-4 garlic cloves, depending on courage
- ·1/2 tsp coarse salt
- ·1 egg yolk, room temperature
- ·1 tsp lemon juice
- ·3/4 cup oil (half olive, half neutral is the friendliest mix)
- ·1 tsp water, if needed to loosen
One yolk emulsifies three quarters of a cup of oil with room to spare. All extra-virgin olive oil makes a bitter, aggressive aioli, cutting it with neutral oil keeps the garlic in front. The salt is doing double duty: seasoning, and grit for crushing the garlic.
How do you make aioli?
- Crush the garlic and salt to a smooth paste with the flat of a knife or a mortar. No visible pieces should survive.
- Whisk the garlic paste, yolk, and lemon juice in a bowl set on a damp towel so it cannot walk.
- Add the oil literally drop by drop for the first two tablespoons, whisking the whole time.
- Once it visibly thickens, stream the rest of the oil in slowly, whisking until the aioli holds soft peaks.
- Adjust with a teaspoon of water if it gets too stiff, and more lemon or salt to taste.
- Rest it thirty minutes in the fridge. The garlic mellows and rounds out.
What should you know before making aioli?
- The shortcut is legitimate: one cup of good mayonnaise, two cloves of crushed garlic, a teaspoon of lemon. Rest it thirty minutes and most tables cannot tell.
- Room-temperature yolk emulsifies faster and holds more oil than one straight from the fridge.
- Serve with fried potatoes, cold poached fish, boiled vegetables, or anywhere ketchup was about to go.
Where did aioli come from?
Garlic emulsions trace along the whole Mediterranean coast, from Catalan allioli, which still refuses the egg, to Provencal aioli, which anchors a whole Friday feast of salt cod and vegetables called le grand aioli.
What can you make from aioli?
Common questions.
What is the difference between aioli and mayonnaise?
Structure versus seasoning. Mayonnaise is a neutral yolk-and-oil emulsion. Aioli makes crushed garlic a load-bearing ingredient, and traditionally leans on olive oil. Garlic mayo made from a jar is the honest shortcut, and it is fine.
Is it safe to use raw egg yolk?
Aioli carries the same small raw-egg risk as homemade mayonnaise. Use clean, fresh, refrigerated eggs, or pasteurized eggs to remove the question entirely. The mayonnaise-shortcut version has no raw egg at all.
Why is my aioli bitter?
All extra-virgin olive oil, or a machine. Whipping extra-virgin oil at blender speed breaks its polyphenols into bitterness. Cut it with neutral oil and whisk by hand.