Toum | Garlic Spread

Combine the garlic and salt in a blender or food processor. Blend at a low speed until the garlic is coarsely puréed. Add the water and blend at medium speed until it liquefies. Turn the blender off when you’re not using it, to prevent it from overheating.

With the blender running at a medium-low speed, remove the cap from the lid (but keep the lid on so it doesn’t splatter/for safety), and start to slowly drizzle in the oil through the small opening. Try to aim the stream of the oil for the center of the blades. Do not pour the oil too quickly or the emulsion will break.

Once all of the oil has been added, the toum should be thick and white, kind of like an aioli or thin mayo. Slowly pour in the lemon juice while the blender is running. The toum will thicken a bit more, and then it’s ready to use. You can store in in the refrigerator for about 2 weeks (adding more lemon juice will allow you to store it longer, for more like 1 month).

* Do not double this recipe. Toum is an eggless emulsion, so it’s very temperamental, and will break very easily. It must be made in small batches. Let the blender cool down between batches, because excessive heat can also cause the emulsion to break. This shouldn’t be a problem, because you probably won’t need more than 2 cups at a time. It’s strong stuff!

** Do not use extra virgin olive oil for this (although it works alright with super refined olive oil. I like to use canola, but any other neutral oil will work).

*** If you don’t have a high-powered blender, you can totally make toum in a food processor instead. The danger of making it with a high speed blender is letting it run too long, which makes the toum overheat and break. On the other hand, the danger of making it with a food processor is not puréeing the garlic enough at the beginning, so make sure you mince it finely with the salt, and then slowly add the water. In either case, it’s important to add the oil slowly, but you’ll want to add it a little extra slowly when using a food processor.