Ingredients
Garlic
- 150 gfresh garlic cloves, peeled, with any green shoots removed
Salt
- 1 tspsalt
Oil
- 500 mlneutral oil: sunflower, rapeseed or a light vegetable oil
Acid and water
- juice of 1 lemon
- 3 tbspiced water
Equipment
- a food processor, or a tall jug and a stick blender
- or a mortar and pestle and a great deal of patience
To serve
- with charcoal-grilled chicken
- with shawarma
- with grilled meat
Directions
- Use firm fresh garlic with tight unblemished cloves, not old soft garlic. Split each clove and pull out the green germ in the centre if there is one.
- Use a neutral oil, never olive oil. Olive oil turns unpleasantly bitter when whipped at high speed, because the blades rupture the oil’s compounds.
- Chill the oil if your kitchen is warm. Process the garlic with the salt until it is a fine paste, scraping down the sides repeatedly.
- Drop by drop, literally, for the first hundred millilitres or so. Give it several minutes at this stage and resist speeding up.
- Keep the stream thin even once it is established. The iced water also keeps the mixture cool, and heat from the blades is another thing that breaks it.
- Start again in a clean bowl with a fresh clove of garlic crushed to a paste, and add the broken mixture to it drop by drop as if it were oil. That rescue works and it is the same principle as rescuing a split mayonnaise, though the toum will be slightly softer than one that never broke.
- Serve it with charcoal-grilled chicken, which is the classic pairing, and with shawarma and grilled meat.
Technique
- It contains no egg and the emulsion is held by the garlic alone.
- Olive oil turns bitter under a high-speed blade and must be avoided.
- It mellows considerably after a day or two in the fridge.
Substitutions
- Any neutral oil.
- A boiled potato as a stabiliser, which is not traditional but is forgiving.
Variations
- Made in a mortar and pestle, which is the original method.
- With a little cooked potato for stability.
- Made milder, with less garlic and more oil.
History
A thick, pungent garlic sauce, made by emulsifying raw garlic with oil, lemon juice and sometimes egg white into a smooth, mayonnaise-like consistency, documented across Lebanon for many generations as one of the country’s most essential condiments, commonly paired with grilled meats including shawarma and shish taouk. Its emulsification technique, requiring the oil to be added very slowly and steadily to the garlic base while blending continuously to prevent separation, demands practiced skill within Lebanese kitchens, and toum’s intensely concentrated garlic flavour, achieved without any cooking to mellow the raw garlic, distinguishes it clearly from milder garlic sauces found in other culinary traditions. Toum remains an essential Lebanese condiment, closely associated with the country’s grilled meat cooking tradition.
Frequently asked questions
What is Toum?
Toum is a sauce & condiment from Lebanon: fluffy whipped garlic emulsion served with grilled chicken. A thick, pungent garlic sauce, made by emulsifying raw garlic with oil, lemon juice and sometimes egg white into a smooth, mayonnaise-like consistency, documented across Lebanon for many generations as one of the country’s most essential condiments, commonly paired with grilled meats including shawarma and shish taouk. Its emulsification technique, requiring the oil to be added very slowly and steadily to the garlic base while blending continuously to prevent separation, demands practiced skill within Lebanese kitchens, and toum’s intensely concentrated garlic flavour, achieved without any cooking to mellow the raw garlic, distinguishes it clearly from milder garlic sauces found in other culinary traditions. Toum remains an essential Lebanese condiment, closely associated with the country’s grilled meat cooking tradition.
How long does Toum take to make?
Toum takes 20 min of preparation and no cooking at all. The recipe makes about 500 ml. It is rated hard to make.
What can I substitute in Toum?
Yes, within limits. Any neutral oil. A boiled potato as a stabiliser, which is not traditional but is forgiving.
What is the most important thing to get right in Toum?
Use a neutral oil, never olive oil. Olive oil turns unpleasantly bitter when whipped at high speed, because the blades rupture the oil’s compounds.
