White Garlic (Ajo) Sauce

[Daniel]

I was eating lunch the other day at a local Cuban/Dominican Place, Cafe Con Leche.. They brought out this White Sauce that was really good.. They called it Ajo, which simply means Garlic..

The sauce is thin, its a milky white color, and its fantastic.. I asked them to describe what was in it.. They told me oil, garlic and vinegar.. Where did the white come from? Could there be milk in it?

Most importantly, does someone have a recipe..

Edit to add:

Upon searching the net, I came up with this site.. This looks like it could be similar.. But now I need to know the specifics..

http://www.ultimategarlic.com/

Edited February 13, 2006 by Daniel (log)

[ChefCrash]

This is the best I could do.

The white could be from emulsification.

[Lactic Solar Dust]

I was eating lunch the other day at a local Cuban/Dominican Place, Cafe Con Leche.. They brought out this White Sauce that was really good.. They called it Ajo, which simply means Garlic..

The sauce is thin, its a milky white color, and its fantastic.. I asked them to describe what was in it.. They told me oil, garlic and vinegar..  Where did the white come from? Could there be milk in it? 

Most importantly, does someone have a recipe..

Edit to add:

Upon searching the net, I came up with this site.. This looks like it could be similar.. But now I need to know the specifics..

http://www.ultimategarlic.com/

←

Was the restaurant located in Washington Heights?

[Smithy]

There's a Middle Eastern garlic sauce that sounds rather like it. The garlic sauce is basically whizzed up garlic, salt, lemon juice, and a bit of egg, with a thin stream of oil added. FoodMan gives a recipe for it in his eGullet Culinary Institute course, Introduction to Lebanese Cuisine (scroll a little way down the page to find it). ChefCrash is right; the white color could be from emulsification, just as it is with mayonnaise. Using only the egg whites will result in a whiter sauce than if you include the yolks. The stuff I've seen has always been the consistency of mayonnaise, but if you add enough oil, or perhaps some water? you might get the thin sauce you describe.

Another avenue to try is to find a recipe for aïoli. I think aïoli and thomeya (a name for that Middle Eastern sauce) are very similar, and both names indicate garlic, as yours does, in their respective languages.

Does this help?

Edited to add: I just found a "Spanish-style garlic sauce" that uses bread (even stale bread) as a thickener, and doesn't use eggs. I bet this has the consistency you're after. Clickety here.

Edited February 14, 2006 by Smithy (log)

[Smithy]

Daniel, did either of these recipes work for you? Have you found your garlic sauce yet?

I made thomeya (the Middle Eastern garlic sauce) yesterday, running from memory and not much of a recipe. I worked out that the runniness depends at least in part on how much oil is used, and how much egg. I'm going to wander over to the eGullet Culinary Institute in a while and re-read what the instructors have to say about consistency in their course on Introduction to Basic Condiments. The thomeya I'm used to is similar to mayonnaise in both ingredients and consistency, but my batch yesterday was more runny. It did firm up after it sat for a while. It tasted wonderful, although the taste lasted with my husband and me longer than we would have preferred. (Our house was quite safe from vampires last night. )

[Daniel]

Thanks for asking Smithy.. What did you serve your sauce with? I am glad you and your husband were well protected from those Vampires..

I have not even attempted the sauce yet.. I am such a scatter brain.. Its in the back of my mind, I will attempt it soon.. Make it with a picadillo and some rice and beans.. Or maybe with a lamb kebab and some basmatti...

Edited February 27, 2006 by Daniel (log)

[Smithy]

Thanks for asking Smithy.. What did you serve your sauce with?  I am glad you and your husband were well protected from those Vampires..

I have not even attempted the sauce yet..  I am such a scatter brain.. Its in the back of my mind, I will attempt it soon.. Make it with a picadillo and some rice and beans.. Or maybe with a lamb kebab and some basmatti...

←

Those sound like great ways to use the sauce. We just used it for a dip, which is why I wanted the consistency of mayonnaise. We kept dipping crackers in it and eating away. Pita chips would work well for it. If you wanted to take a slightly more healthful approach, celery sticks would work too.

I haven't decided what I'll do with the leftovers. We're having fish tonight. Garlic sauce dipped on it at the last minute might be just the ticket...if we can keep the crackers out of it!

[Mistinguett]

I make garlic sauce by mashing up the garlic with salt (apparently the salt makes the mashing easier) then mixing in a bit of olive oil until it gets to a mayo consistency. At this point makes a good dip, or I dilute it to my taste with cold water and use it for grilled/baked/broiled chicken, fish or pork, sometimes french fries - yeap, no more crispiness but the garlic bath just makes another kind of fries. Sometimes I add some finely chopped parsley, it really doesn't hurt.

[Smithy]

*bump*

I am now obsessed with finding the right recipe and technique to make the garlic sauce of my dreams. My attempt upthread came closest so far, and now that the jar is finally empty I'm going to try it again. Yum.

Meanwhile, in my prowls through the Middle East and Africa forum, I found this discussion about garlic sauce, complete with this link to a Rumanian garlic sauce called Mujdei de usteroi. It has broth in it, and that sounds odd to me so I won't bother with it, but it might help Daniel.