Aioli, allioli or aïoli is a sauce made of garlic, salt, and olive oil and found in the cuisines of the northwest Mediterranean, from Valencia to Calabria. The names mean "garlic and oil" in Catalan/Valencian and Provençal. It is found in the cuisines of the Mediterranean coasts of Spain, France and Italy. Some versions of the sauce are closer to a garlic mayonnaise, incorporating egg yolks and lemon juice, whereas other versions are without egg yolk and have more garlic. This gives the sauce a pastier texture, while making it more laborious to make as the emulsion is harder to stabilize. There are many variations, such as adding lemon juice or other seasonings. In France it may include mustard. It is served at room temperature. Like mayonnaise, aioli is an emulsion or suspension of small globules of oil and oil-soluble compounds in water and water-soluble compounds. In Spain, purists believe that the absence of egg distinguishes aioli from mayonnaise, but that is not the case in France and other countries, where cooks may use egg or egg yolk as an emulsifier. Using only garlic as an emulsifier requires that the cook thoroughly crush it and add oil drop by drop so excess oil does not "cut" the aioli. Since about 1990, it has become common in the United States to call all flavored mayonnaises aioli; flavorings include saffron and chili. Purists insist that flavored mayonnaise can contain garlic, but true aioli contains garlic and no other seasoning.
Etymology
The word is a compound of the words meaning "garlic" and "oil". The English spelling comes from the French aïoli, which itself comes from Occitan. The spelling in Occitan may be alhòli, following the classical norm, or aiòli, following the Mistralian norm. In Catalan, it is spelled allioli. The most common term in Spanish is alioli, an adaptation from Catalan, although it is also called ajoaceite, ajiaceite, ajolio or ajaceite. It is also spelt alioli in Galician.
Basic recipe
Garlic is crushed in a mortar and pestle and emulsified with salt, and olive oil. Today, aioli is often made in a food processor or blender, but some traditionalists object that this does not give the same result.
Serving
In Malta, arjoli or ajjoli is commonly made with the addition of either crushed galletti or tomato. In Occitan cuisine, aioli is typically served with seafood, fish soup, and croutons. An example is a dish called merluça amb alhòli. In the Occitan Valleys of Italy it is served with potatoes boiled with salt and bay laurel. In Provençal cuisine, aioli or, more formally, le grand aïoli, aioli garni, or aïoli monstre is a dish consisting of various boiled vegetables, poached fish, snails, canned tuna, other seafood, and boiled eggs, all served with aioli. 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. The Provençal cuisine fish soupbourride is generally served with aioli. In Spain, allioli 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 or allioli with boiled pear. Other commonly used vegetables are beets, fennel, celery, zucchini, cauliflower, chick peas, and raw tomato.
