Garlic Paste (Toum)

Toum is a garlic sauce, or, more accurately, a garlic cream. Not very attractive to vampires and the garlic haters out there, but it is an exquisite, smooth, silky garlic cream that fast becomes an addiction. Toum goes with grilled chicken, is divine with French fries, and beautifully accompanies malssa, puréed raw meat.

Toum comes in many versions, but is basically finely crushed garlic and oil (preferably vegetable oil, not olive oil, as the latter is too strong as of flavor and color) worked together like a mayonnaise to obtain a light, airy cream. To make it lighter and easier, you can add an egg white, in the style of mayonnaise.

My mother’s Sunday exercise used to be making toum for the barbecued chicken, crushing and stirring for a long time to transform the garlic and oil into a creamy paste. The easy alternative today is to let an electric mixer do the job.

In an electric mixer, whiz together the garlic and the egg white, adding the vegetable oil in a very thin drizzle. The oil must not be added too fast, or it will not incorporate into the mixture. Toum will form quickly into a white cream. Season to taste with salt, and add the lemon juice, which will make the white color brighter.