Aïoli
This is Tricia's recipe, which uses all olive oil. Depending on the oil, olive oil can make the taste of the aïoli a bit heavy, and in some cases, bitter. Many cooks in France prefer to use half canola oil (or another neutral oil),and half olive oil, using the canola oil to start the emulsion, then adding the olive oil later. Some olive oils can also be hard to emulsify, which can cause mayonnaise to break. So nowadays I use a 50:50 version. - David
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, preferably fresh
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1 cup (250ml) extra-virgin olive oil, (see headnote)
- Crush the garlic cloves with the salt in a mortar or deep bowl until you have a smooth paste. Take out some of it as it may be too much; you can add it back later.
- Add the egg yolk. Anchor the bowl down by tying a dishtowel around it tightly, if necessary.
- Using a fork or whisk, add the oil to the egg and garlic mixture starting very slowly, drop by drop. I like to use a spout in an olive oil bottle to regulate the flow but you can also drip the oil in from a spoon. As the mayonnaise thickens continue to add the oil in a very thin stream. Continue until all the oil has been incorporated.
- If it gets too thick you can dilute it slightly with a tablespoon of warm water – don’t add more oil, it will just get thicker. Taste, and add more of the garlic, if desired.
- This recipe can easily be doubled, and you can make the aïoli in a food processor but the texture and taste is not as fine as hand-made.