Aioli/Alioli

[mikeycook]

I recently made Penelope Casas' recipe for Alioli in The Food and Wine of Spain (as part of the Broiled Rabbit with Alioli recipe) and had a couple of questions:

1. In the recipe for Broiled Rabbit with Alioli, she says you should make the Alioli ahead of time and leave it at room temperature. I sealed my Alioli with plastic wrap and let it sit for a couple of hours, but doing so went against everything I thought about making mayonnaise. Is it really safe to let Alioli sit out at room temperature? For how long? Does the amount of garlic make Alioli more forgiving (in terms of going bad) that a homemade mayonnaise?

2. I have made Alioli with a whole egg and with egg yolk only. As I was making it, the version with whole egg seemed to have a different consistency (creamier/frothier), but once all the oil was added, it seemed almost identical. It also seemed to be more resistant to breaking down (because of the whites?) I have also seen Alioli/Aioli products for sale that contain no egg (similar, I assume, to mayonnaise that is made without egg.) How do people feel about the adding of egg (whole, yolk only, none).

3. Does anyone have anything else they add to their Alioli other than garlic, lemon, salt, pepper, oil, and egg? (I happen to use 100% olive oil in mine despite suggestions of using half canola or other tasteless oil.)

[Adam Balic]

I have no problem with leaving homemade mayonaise sitting around for a few hours or even longer if chilled. I have no fear of eggs though.

You can make it without the egg yolk, but it is more likely to split. I haven't had a problem with this, but that is what the books say.

Colman Andrew's great book on Catalan cooking has numerous variations on the theme. One of the nicer ones is to to flavour the Aioli with quince paste or other fruits.

[Alex]

I see absolutely no problem with the aioli resting on the counter, covered, for a few hours. Think of the eggs sitting out in the henhouse or wherever before they're gathered.

If you're doing homemade, I don't see much point in making aioli w/o the egg (unless you're allergic, of course). I use one whole egg and one yolk -- kind of the best of both worlds.

[slkinsey]

Aioli is essentially garlic mayonnaise. As others have remarked on other threads here, mayonnaise is quite safe from a bacteriological standpoint. Much safer than you think it might be.

Obviously, the most important thing to do is start out with the freshest eggs you can find. I always use eggs I buy at the Green Market, and they were laid perhaps a day or two before I bought them. If you are paraniod about salmonella, there are a few things you can do: 1) you can coddle the eggs using whatever procedure people use to render eggs safe that way; 2) you can buy eggs that have already been rendered safe via irradtiation or whatever it is that they do; 3) you can freeze the egg yolks for several days, which has the added benefit of increasing the emulsifying properties; 4) you can cook the eggs over heat as one would to make a Hollandaise; 5) you can make your aioli by adding the other ingredients to store-bought mayonnaise; 6) throw caution to the wind and just use the raw egg. I recommend #6 myself.

So, assuming you start with nice fresh, high quality eggs there is one other thing working in your favor: Since one of the primary components of mayonnaise is an acid (lemon juice or vinegar usually), the pH is relatively low. So low it is deadly to most bacteria that might concern you. In fact, Alton Brown recommends leaving your homemade mayonnaise out at toom temperature for one hour after it is made in order to give the pH the best chance to kill off any such bacteria. I have consumed homemade mayonnaise up to two weeks old with no ill effects. The long and short of this is that you have nothing to fear letting it sit our for an hour or two if you're going to be eating it immediately thereafter.

As for the egg yolk or whole egg question... I believe that all the emulsifying properties of eggs are contained in the yolk and that the whites mostly contribute additional liquid. Since I prefer that the liquid components in my mayonnaises be flavor components, I use only the yolks. The general rule of thumb is: one yolk + one cup of oil + 1-1.5 T acid + 1 t kosher salt = a little over one cup of mayonnaise. A touch of Dijon mustard is often included as well.

In re to your last question, I'm not sure what you mean. Aioli is garlic mayonnaise. If you make it with other ingredients, it is no longer aioli but another kind of flavored mayonnaise. I don't go through all thart much mayonnaise, but when I do use it I always make it at home. Interesting flavorings (to me) have included chipotle peppers, smoked Spanish paprika, parsley, cracked black pepper, Sichuan peppercorns, chervil, tarragon, porcini dust, Old Bay seasoning, even lamb drippings... just about anything (not all together, of course).

Just made a kick-ass mayonnaise last PM with a tiny bit of garlic, minced basil, lemon zest, lemon juice, integrated lemon/olive oil (i.e., the lemons are crushed together with the olives -- not an infused oil) and safflower oil. Very tasty.

[mikeycook]

In re to your last question, I'm not sure what you mean.  Aioli is garlic mayonnaise.  If you make it with other ingredients, it is no longer aioli but another kind of flavored mayonnaise.

I think you answered my question when you mentioned the Dijon mustard. I have seen it in a few other recipes, but not in the ones I've used. I have also seen a lot of other "Aiolis" referred to that may be mayonnaises, but don't seem to hold to the strict definition of Aioli. I have seen "Rosemary Aioli", which includes rosemary and parmesan cheese, seafood Aioli, which includes lobster stock, and chipotle aioli, which includes not only chipotle sauce, but sour cream as well. Do these really qualify as Aioli?

Edited September 2, 2003 by mikeycook (log)

[Adam Balic]

As for the egg yolk or whole egg question...  I believe that all the emulsifying properties of eggs are contained in the yolk and that the whites mostly contribute additional liquid.  Since I prefer that the liquid components in my mayonnaises be flavor components, I use only the yolks.  The general rule of thumb is: one yolk + one cup of oil + 1-1.5 T acid + 1 t kosher salt = a little over one cup of mayonnaise.  A touch of Dijon mustard is often included as well.

I think that the catalan version in Spain (slightly different spelling), often doesn't contain egg, so it from a slightly different class of sauces I would guess.

The cholesterol in the egg yolk helps in the emusification process. It is a bi-polar molecule that helps to form the tiny little beads of oil suspended in the liquid componant.

As you can get away with garlic alone, garlic most contain molecules with similar properties.

[slkinsey]

In re to your last question, I'm not sure what you mean.  Aioli is garlic mayonnaise.  If you make it with other ingredients, it is no longer aioli but another kind of flavored mayonnaise.

I think you answered my question when you mentioned the Dijon mustard. I have seen it in a few other recipes, but not in the ones I've used. I have also seen a lot of other "Aiolis" referred to that may be mayonnaises, but don't seem to hold to the strict definition of Aioli. I have seen "Rosemary Aioli", which includes rosemary and parmesan cheese, seafood Aioli, which includes lobster stock, and chipotle aioli, which includes not only chipotle sauce, but sour cream as well. Do these really qualify as Aioli?

Exactly. No, those things are not aioli -- they are no more "aioli" than vanilla vodka, Cointreau and an orange peel garnish is a "martini." "Aioli" designates a specific kind of mayonnaise, just as "martini" designates a specific kind of cocktail. I chose these two words on purpose, both words have had a certain amount of "definition broadening" in the popular imagination.

In the case of "aioli" it is no doubt simply the case that restauranteurs and recipe-writers found that the word "aioli" was more appealing to customers... more people are likely to buy "fried calamari with chipotle aioli" than "fried calamari with chipotle mayonnaise." Similarly, restauranteurs and bar managers have found that the designation "martini" confers a certain elegance of style that incents customers to buy cocktails (it also tells them that the drink will come in a retro-looking cocktail glass so they can look sophisticated drinking something that probably would have had an umbrella sticking out of it in 1985).

To call a mayonnaise that includes rosemary and parmigiano or chipotle and sour cream "aioli" is like calling a dish made of pork ragu and tagliatelle "pork spaghetti aglio e olio."

[slkinsey]

The cholesterol in the egg yolk helps in the emusification process. It is a bi-polar molecule that helps to form the tiny little beads of oil suspended in the liquid componant.

I believe it is actually lecithin that gives egg yolks most of their emulsification bang.

Some interesting info on mayonnaise and emulsification may be found here.

[Adam Balic]

It's both molecules, but I prefer to give cholesterol the positive press for a change.

A slightly more technical link explains:

Emulsions

I think that you are correct that it is possible to be to free and easy with the definition of Aioli, but if we are going to be so specific, then it is incorrect to refer to Aioli as simply a garlic flavoured mayonnaise. It certainly can be, but it really belongs to a seperate group of garlic and oil emulsions, the egg bit is window dressing.

[slkinsey]

I think that you are correct that it is possible to be too free and easy with the definition of Aioli, but if we are going to be so specific, then it is incorrect to refer to Aioli as simply a garlic flavoured mayonnaise. It certainly can be, but it really belongs to a seperate group of garlic and oil emulsions, the egg bit is window dressing.

Interesting... When you say "garlic and oil emulsion" do you mean to imply that the garlic acts as the emulsifier? Or might it be the case that aioli is sometimes made with no egg? Are there any stable garlic and oil emulsions that do not include egg? What other garlic and oil emulsions do you think would belong in this special group? Rouille perhaps? (These aren't rhetorical questions, I'm actually curious about your reasoning.)

My way of looking at it is that mayonnaise is a "mother sauce" and aioli is a "small sauce" from the mayonnaise mother. Whether or not egg is a major flavor component of aioli does not seem particularly germane. Egg isn't a major flavor component of many (most?) Hollandaise-based small sauces. So it strikes me that mayonnaise and aioli are fundamentally related in such a way that aioli is best described as a garlic mayonnaise.

I'd be interested in hearing your way of looking at it and why you think it might be more appropriate.

[Adam Balic]

Well from what I have read, Mayonnaise is the offspring of a eggless emulsion type sauce. A clue to this is the various names for a similar garlic/oil emulsion product from Southern France to Northern Spain. A good summary of the history of these types of sauces is given on Clifford A. Wright's site:

Emulsion sauces

I should say that I think that we are looking at this from opposite directions, me from the Catalan Allioli side, you from the French Aioli side. While Andrew Colman and Clifford Wright both speak about adding egg to allioli, it isn't traditional, as they both indicate. At the moment I don't have to add egg yolk, but I have failed in the past when I didn't add an egg yolk. Must be the Scottish garlic.

[mikeycook]

I should say that I think that we are looking at this from opposite directions, me from the Catalan Allioli side, you from the French Aioli side. While Andrew Colman and Clifford Wright both speak about adding egg to allioli, it isn't traditional, as they both indicate.

Is Allioli native to Catalan? Penelope Casas' The Food and Wine of Spain lists its version with egg. I had assumed the lack of egg in some areas was to increase shelf-life. Do most Spaniards leave out the egg in theirs or only those in Catalan (I know, I know... Catalan is not Spain )?

[Adam Balic]

I should say that I think that we are looking at this from opposite directions, me from the Catalan Allioli side, you from the French Aioli side. While Andrew Colman and Clifford Wright both speak about adding egg to allioli, it isn't traditional, as they both indicate.

Is Allioli native to Catalan? Penelope Casas' The Food and Wine of Spain lists its version with egg. I had assumed the lack of egg in some areas was to increase shelf-life. Do most Spaniards leave out the egg in theirs or only those in Catalan (I know, I know... Catalan is not Spain )?

Allioli is Catalan, tradionally no egg, but I imagine that most garlicky, oily emulsion sauces have egg yolk added as it is much easier to stop the sauce from splitting with an egg yolk added.

[slkinsey]

I should say that I think that we are looking at this from opposite directions, me from the Catalan Allioli side, you from the French Aioli side. While Andrew Colman and Clifford Wright both speak about adding egg to allioli, it isn't traditional, as they both indicate.

Is Allioli native to Catalan? Penelope Casas' The Food and Wine of Spain lists its version with egg. I had assumed the lack of egg in some areas was to increase shelf-life. Do most Spaniards leave out the egg in theirs or only those in Catalan (I know, I know... Catalan is not Spain )?

Allioli is Catalan, tradionally no egg, but I imagine that most garlicky, oily emulsion sauces have egg yolk added as it is much easier to stop the sauce from splitting with an egg yolk added.

I wonder whether it is actually possible to achieve a stable emulsion with just garlic, oil and vinegar.

Regardless, I would consider the Catalan and French versions fundamentally different if one contains egg and the other does not. The recipe from the page you gave contains so much garlic (5 large cloves to one cup of oil) that it would almost be a paste rather than an emulsion.

As with many things, however, there is some blurring at the edges of the various defined categories. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that aioli/allioli in its most typical incarnation is a garlic-flavored mayonnaise, but that certain traditional Catalan incarnations omit the use of eggs in the emulsification. I am reluctant to say there is a separate category of "oil and garlic emulsions" because I can't think of any other examples, and I do think aioli is more closely related to mayonnaise than to, say, chimichurri or bread-thickened rouille.

[Adam Balic]

I make the recipe using only two garlic cloves and about two cups of oil, it is quite stable. Infact it is almost like a jelly until the second cup of oil is used.

Aioli with egg is a garlic mayonnaise, I haven't and problem with that.

But, it is important to consider that it came from a non-egg oil emulsion and that Mayonnaise is secondary to the original garlic emulsion sauce. There is also little historical documentation that suggests that Mayonnaise precedes Aioli. So if Aioli is the for-runner you can have your 'rosemary aioli', rather then 'Rosemary and garlic Mayonnaise', because if Mayonnaise has garlic in it then it is aioli.

[slkinsey]

I make the recipe using only two garlic cloves and about two cups of oil, it is quite stable. Infact it is almost like a jelly until the second cup of oil is used.

Okay, that sounds pretty cool. Must try it at home.

...it is important to consider that [aioli] came from a non-egg oil emulsion and that Mayonnaise is secondary to the original garlic emulsion  sauce. There is also little historical documentation that suggests that Mayonnaise precedes Aioli.

Hmmm... I'm not sure I'm entirely convinced of that, but I can accept that it's a possibility. I'll have to do some reading before I am totally convinced. That said, I don't have a hard time believing that pounded garlic/oil sauces were made before egg/oil sauces. As to whether or not mayonnaise was derrived or evolved from these sauces... I don't know.

So if Aioli is the forerunner you can have your 'rosemary aioli', rather then 'Rosemary and garlic Mayonnaise', because if Mayonnaise has garlic in it then it is aioli.

That would depend on several things, and they don't seem to depend on whether or not emulsified garlic and oil is the direct ancestor of mayonnaise. If one wants to consider aioli a separate class of emulsified garlic/oil sauces in which garlic is the sole emulsifier, then there could be an almost infinite number of aioli variations just as there are an almost infinite number of mayonnaise variations. Even taking this view, however, I'm not sure I'd agree that any emulsified oil-based cold sauce with garlic is automatically an aioli. As with bechamel-based sauces that include an egg liaison, one has to make some determination as to which are the most important characteristics of the sauce. I would consider any oil-based cold emulsion containing eggs to be fundamentally a mayonnaise as the egg would be the primary emulsifier.

To a certain extend, I suppose, one could just call them all "creamy-textured oil-based stable cold emulsifications" and have done with it.

[Adam Balic]

"creamy-textured oil-based stable cold emulsifications"

I don't think that would sell the product.

Did I mention that I make my "creamy-textured oil-based stable cold emulsifications" with garlic using a wooden pestle in a large bowl? Is quite fun to do and it is less foamy then if you use a food processor.

[mikeycook]

...it is important to consider that [aioli] came from a non-egg oil emulsion and that Mayonnaise is secondary to the original garlic emulsion  sauce. There is also little historical documentation that suggests that Mayonnaise precedes Aioli.

Hmmm... I'm not sure I'm entirely convinced of that, but I can accept that it's a possibility. I'll have to do some reading before I am totally convinced. That said, I don't have a hard time believing that pounded garlic/oil sauces were made before egg/oil sauces. As to whether or not mayonnaise was derrived or evolved from these sauces... I don't know.

If it helps add any texture to the debate, another Casas book, Delicioso!, refers to Allioli...

"Alioli (allioli in Catalan), a garlic mayonnaise which most likely originated with the Romans..."

Not sure of the accepted origin of mayonnaise, but this might shed some light on the pounded garlic/oil sauces vs. egg/oil sauces timeline.

[Adam Balic]

...it is important to consider that [aioli] came from a non-egg oil emulsion and that Mayonnaise is secondary to the original garlic emulsion  sauce. There is also little historical documentation that suggests that Mayonnaise precedes Aioli.

Hmmm... I'm not sure I'm entirely convinced of that, but I can accept that it's a possibility. I'll have to do some reading before I am totally convinced. That said, I don't have a hard time believing that pounded garlic/oil sauces were made before egg/oil sauces. As to whether or not mayonnaise was derrived or evolved from these sauces... I don't know.

If it helps add any texture to the debate, another Casas book, Delicioso!, refers to Allioli...

"Alioli (allioli in Catalan), a garlic mayonnaise which most likely originated with the Romans..."

Not sure of the accepted origin of mayonnaise, but this might shed some light on the pounded garlic/oil sauces vs. egg/oil sauces timeline.

Pliny the Elder mentions a garlic and oil emulsion sauce, but he was describing a product made by the locals in the area he was living in. This place is now known as Tarragona and is Catalan. So it is more likely that the sauce is native to this area of Northern Spain, Southern France, rather then Roman.

[Richard Kilgore]

Hmmm. So when were you chatting with Pliny the Elder?

[Adam Balic]

Hmmm. So when were you chatting with Pliny the Elder?

Quite often, is that wrong?

Actually the 'Natural History' is an excellent read, especially if you are interested in food.

Pity about the damn volcano though.

[Richard Kilgore]

Yes, indeed. Nothing like a volcano to spoil a fine garlic and oil emulsion.

[jackal10]

What are the essential components of a "Grand Aioli", besides the Aioli, of course? What merits the "grand" rather than just "Aioli garni"?

Elizabeth David says pot-au-feu or chicken. Hopkinson says cod, others salt cod.

Most agree on carrots and beans; opinions differ on artichokes, with most saying whatever happens to be around and in season.

Are there any other sauces besides Aioli, such as Sauce vert, or is that a modern restaurant invention for the poor deluded souls who don't like garlic?

What would you serve before and after, if anything?

[drinkingchef]

I wonder whether it is actually possible to achieve a stable emulsion with just garlic, oil and vinegar.

I often have made a sauce with roasted garlic, a touch of vinegar, and lots of oil to make an emulsion. It is delicious and very stable. However, you have to use enough liquid (be it vinegar or whatever else) to make sure the oil emulisifies as there is not enough present in the roasted garlic to suffice.

Also, I think most restaurants use the term aioli to describe any flavored mayonnaise now-a-days because it sounds more appealing than just plain mayo. It sounds more "gourmet", and when most people here mayo, they hear fattening aswell. Aioli doest have that stigma yet. Its just a trendy catch-phrase

[mikeycook]

The Food and Flavors of Haute Provence by Georgette Brennan provide a recipe for Le Grand Aioli that contains (apart from the Aioli):

Boiling Potatoes

Carrots

Beets

Young, Tender Green Beans

Eggs

Salt Cod

The salt cold is poached. Everything else boiled. The vegetables, eggs, and salt cod are served on individual platters and the Aioli in several bowls.