Toum - Middle Eastern Garlic Sauce
Recipe from “The Mediterranean Dish” blog:
Toum (toom, Arabic for garlic) is a bold and creamy Middle Eastern garlic sauce made of garlic, oil, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt with just a little bit of water. It’s very yummy (I haven’t got the consistency down yet but the flavor is so good, sj).
Garlic a whole head (or about 12 garlic cloves).
Kosher salt. 1 teaspoon
Olive oil 1 ¾ cup.
Lemon Juice of 1 lemon.
Plus a little bit of ice water to help during the emulsification process.
How to:
“Making toum, or touma, from scratch is simple, but it's all about the very slow and steady emulsification process that whips the garlic and oil together with the help of lemon juice and a bit of ice water. Traditionally, a mortar and pestle are used to make this garlic sauce recipe, but I have found a small food processor to work just as well”.
Mince the garlic and kosher salt together. First, pulse the peeled and sliced garlic and 1 teaspoon of kosher salt in a small food processor until the garlic appears minced.
Add lemon juice. Pour in juice of one lemon and pulse again a few times to combine.
Slowly, slowly, slowly add the oil and alternate with a bit of ice water, while the processor is running. Drizzle about ¼ cup of the oil very slowly from the top opening of the food processor (it should be a very slow stream). Add about 1 tablespoon of ice water and keep the processor going. Continue to do this using ¼ cup of oil at a time and alternating with the ice water until the oil is finished and the garlic sauce has thickened and increased in volume (it should look whipped and fluffy. This process can take a good 10 minutes, do not rush it!)
Important Tips
Use the best fresh garlic. This recipe is all about garlic, so avoid using peeled garlic from a package. Use the best fresh garlic you can find. Give the garlic head a squeeze, the cloves should be full and firm.
Slice the garlic in half and remove any green sprouts. This is optional, but it prevents the bitter flavor the greens can impart.
Don't skip the lemon juice. Fresh lemon juice adds brightness, and it should be added at the beginning to help the garlic (some recipes may add the lemon juice toward the end which causes the sauce to break).
Do not rush the emulsification process. Adding the oil ever so slowly as the garlic is whipping in the processor is what makes this sauce! Alternating the oil with a small amount of water prevents the emulsion from breaking.
Use a small food processor. For the amount of garlic used in this recipe, a smaller processor works well because the blade can easily mince the garlic without it flying all over the bowl. If you double or triple the recipe, you can easily use a large food processor.
If you haven't already tried toum or touma, you might be wondering how to use it or what to pair it with. This garlic sauce recipe is one versatile condiment you will use over and over. Pretty much anything you think might need a kick of garlic, you can use toum! And if nothing else, egg-free toum can easily replace mayonnaise or aioli as a healthier, bolder, and far tastier spread on sandwiches!
For some who need their toum to be less powerful, three things you can do:
Leave it in the fridge a few days. Time in the fridge will take a bit of the edge off.
Place the peeled garlic in ice water for 30 minutes or so before making the garlic sauce. But be sure to dry the garlic very well before you start.
Add cooked potato (mashed) or a couple tablespoons of yogurt. Either of these items will thicken the toum sauce and take a bit of the garlic edge off. You would add a little bit at a time during the process. I don't do this because the toum is not the same with these additions and I'd rather have the real deal.
If you make a large batch of toum sauce, put it in a tight-lid mason jar or other glass container and keep it in the fridge to use as needed. It will keep for 4 weeks or so.
And if you need to, you can divide it into smaller portion and freeze it for later use (do not thaw out, use from frozen). I do prefer the fridge method.
“There you have it! Can't wait for you to try this awesome sauce.”
This recipe is adapted from Maureen Abood's cookbook Rosewater and Orange Blossoms.
Cook's Tip: for best results, do not rush the emulsification process. Remember to add the oil very slowly as the processor is running, alternating with a little tiny bit of ice water. If your processor does not have a top opening to drizzle the olive oil, still add the oil very slowly, about a tablespoon or so at a time, and run the processor to whip the garlic well. And again, don't forget to add a bit of the ice water as well. Keep whipping the garlic until you have used up all the oil. Alternating the oil with a small amount of water prevents the emulsion from breaking.
Storage: toum can best be stored in a tight-lid mason jar or container in the fridge for 4 weeks or so. You can also freeze some for later use (do not thaw out, use from frozen). I do prefer the fridge method.
