A few weeks ago my husband and I hosted dinner for some couple friends of ours here in Houston who both just had the sweetest little baby boys. I chose to keep it simple with a burger bar because a) who doesn’t love burgers? and b) it’s already grilling weather here in Houston.
As I was halfheartedly mixing up chopped chipotles and mayonnaise to make “chipotle mayonnaise,” I dipped my spoon to sample a taste and was sadly underwhelmed. The taste was heavy and just screamed “processed” no matter what I did to it. Hopeless. In that very moment I was reminded of a vacation my husband and I took to the south of France, visiting his uncle (who recently passed away) and wife who ran the loveliest cooking/history/culture extravaganza called A Week In Provence. (I highly recommend it.)
During this luxurious week of all things French and fete, I remember watching, mesmerized, as Sarah so effortlessly emulsified egg yolks, garlic and olive oil together into a symphony of whipped, light perfection, aioli (which is provencal garlic mayonnaise.) Something I so fondly admire about the French is their intentionality in elevating an ordinary ingredient, like a fresh egg yolk, into something seemingly sophisticated, like aioli. So, just like that, our simple “burger bar” dinner was elevated into something fabulous. And don’t be intimidated by the mortar and pestle. It’s fun and a great little arm workout! Buen provecho, or shall I say….Bon appetit!
- 3-4 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 egg yolks (high quality: organic, free range)
- 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- Using a mortar and pestle, mash the garlic cloves into a paste with the salt. Drop in the egg yolks and use the pestle to break them gently. Using a small spoon, drizzle in the olive oil, literally drop by drop, at first and slowly mix together. Keep adding oil, drop by drop, stirring in one direction. As the aioli emulsifies (binds together) you can slowly drizzle in the oil bit by bit, still constantly stirring in one direction. Once your mixture is adequately emulsified, you can pour it into a larger bowl so it’s easier to work with. Continue to use the pestle (or whisk) and stir in the remaining olive oil, slowly, in one direction still until you have a light, pale yellow aioli. (Mine is more golden because I didn’t use as much olive oil.) Salt to taste!
- You could also do this in a food processor!