Ali-oli Recipe from El Bon Plat

Here's a fantastic recipe and preparation guide for ali-oli (or garlic mayonnaise) courtesy of El Bon Plat, spanish caterers based in Dorset.

Here at El Bon Plat we do everything the old fashioned way. No electric mixers or fancy tools and our ingredient choice is totally down to flavour and suitability, the cheapest cut of meat can give the very best flavour, it all depends on the dish you are preparing. When choosing ingredients for any dish take your time and find the ingredient that best suits. You can’t rush the cooking process so why rush the preparation?

I would guess that most of you know what Allioli is but for those of you that do not let’s have a look at what we are working with. The translation is simple “garlic and oil” and with the addition of salt that’s it, nothing else! Many will swear that using an egg yolk is the way and true, the egg yolk helps the emulsification but you are then not making “allioli” but making “allouioli”.

Ingredients: Garlic, Oil, Salt.

The garlic: you need moist garlic with plenty of juice, there are many varieties of garlic on sale and most are fine but one or two are dry and hard, stay away from this type of garlic if you are to have any success at all in making Allioli.

The oil: I suppose olive oil is the obvious choice but it does produce a very strong, slightly bitter Allioli so we use sunflower oil here. If you want to use olive oil then use mild and not extra virgen

The salt: table salt is a no-no, you will need a courser salt to provide enough abrasion to break down the garlic but nothing as course as rock salt, fine sea salt is perfect for the job.

You will need a pestle and mortar, a wooden pestle and a smooth walled mortar works best for me, you could also use the wrong end of a thick handled wooden spoon and a glass bowl if you do not have one of these.

You also need something from which to pour the oil. You will need to be able to control the flow of oil so a plastic bottle with a thin nozzle works best, (a cleaned out washing up liquid bottle is perfect)

The method.

The quantity of garlic depends on the amount of Allioli you are making and indeed the size of the mortar you are using. I always make a full large mortar so use three decent sized cloves of garlic, pop the peeled cloves in whole and add a nice pinch of salt.

Now just squash the cloves roughly and bash them around with the pestle until you have nothing left but a thick paste, once you have a paste you need to secure the mortar somehow and make sure it can’t move as for the next step you will not be able to hold it, I usually sit on the bench and using a damp tea towel to help stop slipping hold the mortar between my knees.

The next step is to get the garlic to the perfect consistency for emulsification with the oil, with a firm hand and constant pressure on the base of the mortar start making circles with the pestle, make the circle in the same place every time, don’t try to mix the garlic or catch it all with different sweeps it just won’t work, try and make the circle just catch the centre of the mortar and then carry on round up one side and back down again. Keep on until you hear a strong sucking sound as the garlic paste turns into a thick cream and sticks to the pestle and mortar, now is the time to add the oil.

Dribble the oil into the mortar so that it runs down the side into the centre and gets picked up by the pestle on the way through, if you get it right you will see Allioli start to form, when it starts you will see a ring of Allioli forming about halfway up the mortar and have a lump stuck to the pestle, don’t be tempted to mix this back in just keep going the way you are or you run the risk of cutting the mixture and could end up with a runny mess.

And that’s it. The trick is to keep the pestle moving and dribble the oil drop by drop, don’t be tempted to pour it in too quickly until you have a bit of practice and success at it.

Allioli made in this way has a fantastic texture, pop the whole thing in the centre of the table with lots of bread close by and enjoy (it won’t last long!)

Let me know how you get on

Mark