Aye - O'Lee

At this point of your life do you ever learn anything new about cooking?

Food, always. Cooking, at this point I have the fundamentals down, so the learning curve isn’t quite the roller coaster it used to be, but there is always something new to discover.

A while ago I was reading a book where the author claimed extra virgin olive oil is too delicate for a whisk. I cringe when I see what Rachel Ray calls EVOO go into a machine - Despite what you read in books or see on TeeVee, never put good olive oil in a food processor or blender – both machines make strong emulsions; unfortunately, the flavor of the oil changes from fruity to more of a refined industrial oil type of taste.

When I read the whisk/olive oil thing, I dismissed it – especially since it came from a book that was good but spent most of its time on the border between fussy and pedantic. I didn’t believe a whisk could mess up olive oil, I also didn’t want to tsk-tsk a well-articulated idea only because I had a preconceived notion of how things work in the kitchen. So, I tried whisking the low acid olive oil in a Caesar Dressing and I made aioli in a mortar & pestle – tasting them side by side, the Caesar dressing had a little bit of that post-industrial flavor to it – the mortar & pestle I could really taste the pure flavor of the olive oil.

While one test does not make a scientific truth, the results were reinforced each time I whisked really good olive oil. Now, I won’t allow a whisk anywhere near extra virgin olive oil – I wish I owned a big French mortar and pestle like above, I know it is a dream I can realize but in the meantime I have taken to making aioli in a stainless steel bowl by pounding with a wooden spoon – a low-tech response to a quick and convenient society but the results are superior. Now that artichokes and asparagus are in season, I think the potent mixture of garlic, oil and egg is what every cook needs to be able to bust out.

Aioli

6-8 cloves garlic

1 egg yolk

2/3 – 3/4  cup olive oil 

Coarse sea salt

Peel garlic, cut root end off. You have a choice on how to proceed – 

You can add the garlic to a small pan and heat with a ¼ cup of olive oil over medium-low heat until the garlic softens but not browns; remove the garlic from the pan and add to a small bowl and beat until it is pasty. - By gently heating the garlic you retain the garlic flavor but loose that raw garlic bite. 

Or you can skip the warming of the garlic and just start beating the garlic in a bowl with salt and pound the garlic and the sea salt together until it is a wet paste.

Separate the yolk from white; add yolk to a small bowl with the garlic. Begin working with a wooden spoon – Slowly – begin add the oil – The first 3 to 4 Tablespoons should be drop by drop, literally drop by drop - the time you take here will save you heartache, it is worth the 120 - 150 seconds - if you warmed the garlic, use the warm oil to start. Drop by drop can be accelerated to a small stream – pour oil against the side of your bowl while continually pounding the mixture with a wooden spoon.

In theory an emulsion can hold any amount of liquid, recipes routinely advise for anywhere from a ½ to a full cup of oil per egg yolk. I find 3/4 cup of oil is the most true ration, start to slow down when you get to 2/3 a cup. The final result should have a nice thick consistency. Slowly add the oil to the bowl by drizzling it against the side. If you are feeling dangerous, keeping adding until you reach a cup - The thing is the aioli will stay thick until it breaks – separating the eggs from the liquid – there is no warning sign at all. 

Cover and refrigerate until your meal is ready – White fish, roasted potato and green veg either together or separately are all good excuses for aioli.

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