{"id":23942,"date":"2015-01-16T00:30:46","date_gmt":"2015-01-16T05:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=23942"},"modified":"2015-01-15T18:58:42","modified_gmt":"2015-01-15T23:58:42","slug":"toum-lebanese-garlic-sauce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2015\/01\/16\/toum-lebanese-garlic-sauce\/","title":{"rendered":"Toum – Lebanese Garlic Sauce"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Toum\"<\/a><\/p>\n

My sister had an addiction. \u00a0Drugs? \u00a0Alcohol? \u00a0Gambling? \u00a0No. \u00a0She was addicted to toum. \u00a0Toum is the thick, creamy garlic sauce she was eating at her favorite Mediterranean restaurant. \u00a0She talked about it. \u00a0She bought tubs of it to take home and put on home-cooked food. \u00a0And when she moved to a different city, she craved it. \u00a0She just sent me a recipe for it on Facebook this week, and I decided to try it. \u00a0I present to you Toum –\u00a0Lebanese Garlic Sauce<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

The original recipe is here<\/a>, and there is a lot of information and background on the sauce. \u00a0Unfortunately, the recipe makes a huge quantity, and I didn’t want to commit to using 4 cups of oil on a recipe I’d never tried before. \u00a0So I made my own, much smaller batch, which is what I’m listing here. \u00a0There are only four ingredients, and you probably have all but one in your house right now. \u00a0Use fresh cloves of garlic, fresh lemon juice, sea salt or Kosher salt (not iodized table salt), and grapeseed oil. \u00a0Grapeseed oil is readily available and not expensive. \u00a0It is very pale in color and has a very mild taste. \u00a0(Some comments in the original recipe mentioned that olive oil can make a bitter sauce, so I think it’s best to avoid it.)<\/p>\n

As you can see, I made it by hand with my mortar and pestle. \u00a0Whew, what a workout! \u00a0If you have a small and powerful blender, use that. \u00a0I have a large food processor that is great at mixing up dough, and not good at making small batches of anything. \u00a0Either way, it’s all about technique: \u00a0just like when you make mayonnaise, you MUST add the oil a tiny bit at a time, or else your emulsification will break and you’ll have a sad, oily mess.<\/p>\n

This sauce is friendly and gets along with all savory foods. \u00a0Yesterday I took a spoonful, shook it up with another spoonful of olive oil, a little lemon juice, and a drop or two of honey and made a delicious salad dressing. \u00a0Last night I made a wrap with grilled chicken and lettuce, and used the garlic sauce instead of mayo. \u00a0This morning I put a dollop of this garlic sauce in my breakfast bowl of fried eggs and roasted broccoli. \u00a0Right this minute I am eating the last of the batch of garlic sauce, mixed in with leftover quinoa, chicken, and vegetables.<\/p>\n

\"Quinoa<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2026and now it’s gone. \u00a0I think I see why my sister buys it by the tub!<\/p>\n

Toum – Lebanese Garlic Sauce<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Ingredients:<\/p>\n