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What the French call aïoli (pronounced eye-oh-lee)—is a simple mayonnaise sauce packed full of garlic and lemon flavour. It is a wonderful sauce to have in your repertoire because it is so versatile. It can be served with vegetables, both raw and cooked; french fries; with meat and fish; on sandwiches and for chicken and egg salads.

Ingredients

  • 2 – 3 garlic cloves
  • A pinch of salt
  • 1 egg yolk, room temperature 1⁄2 teaspoon water
  • 1 cup olive oil
  • Splash of lemon
  • Chopped herbs for garnish

Preparation

  1. Three small cloves of garlic per egg yolk, pounded with a mortar and pestle, make a fairly garlic mayonnaise.
  2. I pound the garlic in a mortar and pestle and reserve half of it. You can add more garlic to your aioli later if it needs more garlic (you can always add more garlic, but you can’t subtract it).
  3. One egg yolk will absorb up to one cup of oil.
  4. Adding a small amount of water to the egg yolk (at room temperature) before you incorporate the oil helps prevent the sauce from separating or “breaking.
  5. Whisk in the oil drop by drop at first, adding more as you go. It is much easier to whisk when the bowl is steadied; to help hold it still, set it on top of a dish towel.
  6. If the mayonnaise does separate, stop adding oil, but don’t despair. Just crack a fresh egg, separate the yolk into a new bowl, add a little water as before, and slowly whisk in first the broken sauce and then the rest of the oil.
  7. Add the herbs and a splash of lemon.

Entertaining Tip:

Make aïoli the morning of your party or the day before to give the flavours a chance to marry together. As with anything made with raw eggs, if you’re not going to serve mayonnaise within an hour, refrigerate it.