Toum, The Creamy Garlic Sauce Recipe

Toum is a staple in my household. As the creamy essence of garlic, this fluffy white sauce deserves a chance to enrich almost every dish. We put it on pizza. We put it in soup. I use it to punch up my hot sauces. Salad dressing? Toum. Guacamole? Toum. Anywhere you would put garlic, you can try punching it up with Toum. And here's how you make it.

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Not to be confused with a donair sauce, Toum is an emulsion of garlic, acid, and oil. It's much lighter on the palate than a garlic aioli - as it's missing the egg and mustard of a mayo - and carries a much bigger garlic punch. This garlic sauce, originally from Lebanon, is usually encountered on shawarma or falafel dishes, and is sometimes referred to as a shawarma sauce or shawarma garlic sauce.

But you don't need to be eating Mediterranean Arabic dishes to use this toum recipe - it has a home on pizza, hamburgers, french fries, and anything else you can imagine tasting better. Don't believe me? Try it yourself.

I've had toum from a few different Mediterranean restaurant chains, and it can be very disappointing. Garlic powder sprinkled over raw merengue is what comes to mind when I've encountered these bland examples in the wild. I don't know if they tame it down for a blander market, or their sauce supplier saves money by substituting garlic with children's tears, but they don't serve the real thing. If you think you might have had this garlic sauce before and decided that it's not for you - it's a completely different world when you make it yourself fresh.

I've made this recipe using fresh garlic from a farmer's market, and bargain-bin "about to go bad" bundles from the supermarket. The fresher the garlic, the better the sauce, but old garlic sauce still turned out delicious. Just make sure the garlic isn't squishy.

It's important to cut out the core of each clove as it will contribute a harsh bitter taste. It's a little time consuming, but it's worth it in the end. If you're a seasoned pro and just need some quick garlic hit, you can omit this step. I rarely core my garlic unless I'm making a fresh batch to impress some friends. If you're trying this for the first time, please take the time to prepare it as described for the full Toum experience.

Ingredients

• 1 cup garlic cloves, stems removed (about four heads)

• 2 limes, or one large lemon, squeezed

• 3 cups grapeseed oil, avocado oil, or other light bodied oil (no olive oil!!!)

• 1 tbsp salt

• 3 tbsp ice water (optional)

Directions

• Peel and de-stem your garlic, see notes above.

• Combine garlic, salt, and acid in a blender or food processor and blend to a paste. Lemon vs lime will carry different tastes - I prefer lime.

• Slowly add oil in 1-2 tbsp increments, waiting between pours until fully incorporated.

• For increased fluffiness, add up to 3 tbsp of ice water in small increments between oil pours.

• Enjoy!

Check out the video below for tips and tricks, including how to speed-peel 4 bulbs of garlic!