Toum – Lebanese Garlic Sauce Recipe
My brother Fady eats garlic sauce spread on Lebanese bread all on its own. He says that with garlic, you gain your health but loose your friends. The consumption of garlic in Lebanon is, and historically has been in such copious quantities that the Lebanese can hardly claim any vampire of note. Where should I begin to explain what a pivotal role garlic plays in Lebanese cuisine? The relative of the onion has been consumed as a food and a medicine in the Mediterranean since the days of the pharaohs. It has been referred to in the Old Testament (Numbers 11:5) as one of the foods that were consumed in Egypt, alongside with melons, onions, cucumbers and leeks.. It is used in thousands of recipes and never a day goes by when it is not eaten. Mixed with lemon juice and olive oil, it is our most used salad dressing and meat or chicken marinade.
The Lebanese word for garlic is toum, which is also how we refer to the fluffy white garlic sauce that is served in restaurants with roast chicken, chicken shawarma and shish tawook (chicken skewers). Its affinity with chicken is therefore evident, but it also goes beautifully with lamb, beef and goat meat. Making toum is actually easy, but you need a food processor, and lots of patience. Once you make this sauce, you might get addicted, so beware.
Before I get into the recipe, I want to give you a few pointers:
- Always use a neutral oil like canola or vegetable oil, the sauce will taste lighter and the texture will be fluffier than if you use olive oil
- The idea is to create an emulsion with the oil, garlic and lemon juice
- Be patient. It will take around 10 minutes with a food processor to get a finished product. Rushing will cause the sauce to split
- Use good quality fresh garlic and peel it yourself. Don’t buy already peeled garlic since it has been refrigerated
- The Australian market is flooded with Chinese garlic, which is of a lesser quality, so try to avoid it. Use Mexican garlic, or most preferably Australian garlic
- Avoid bulbs with green growth, and choose tight bulbs
- Make sure all your equipment is free of any traces of water, which could make the sauce split
Toum – Lebanese Garlic Sauce Recipe
how the garlic sauce should look like as it churns through the food processor
Ingredients
4 cups of neutral oil, canola or vegetable oil
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 cup peeled whole garlic cloves (not crushed)
1 heaped tbsp salt
- Put salt and garlic cloves in food processor and pulse. Scrape the sides a couple of times and pulse some more, until the garlic is nicely even in chunk size
- Turn on the food processor and in a very very thin stream, add 1/2 cup oil very gradually. Adding too much oil too soon will split the sauce
- Add 2 teaspoons lemon juice, also gradually, allowing them to incorporate properly
- Repeat steps 2 and 3 until all your ingredients have been used up. Do NOT exceed the oil and lemon juice quantities in each repetition
- After (or during) the 2nd addition of oil, you will notice the emulsion take place. If your sauce doesn’t split, then you’ve done well and added the oil in the required slow manner. You can add any left over lemon juice at the end, but add it slowly as the food processor churns through. If the sauce splits, just stop because it’s ruined. Abort the mission, add an egg white and make aioli instead
none yet. Never thought naming a little girl would be so difficult! Any suggestions? - posted on 05/03/2010 07:16:23
FOUAD….I'm so jealous as this is my favourite dip ever!!!! but no matter how many times I try, it doesn't matter how much I concentrate or how patient I am, I just cannot get it to work.
You know if you have spare, I would be more than happy to take it off your hands for you……
Hey Trish
I would have loved to give you some, but I've already had my stash stolen by my friends. You have to follow the recipe to the letter. Keep the food processor going at all times. I promise, it is failsafe if you do exactly what the recipe says.
I love this dip and can't wait to try it. But to turn a failed version of it into aioli, shouldn't we add an egg yolk (or three) rather than an egg white?
I've bought toum before, and found it was great for adding flavour. Just a spoonful in my mashed potatoes was great. I'm glad your instructions include a rescue for unemulsified toum as aoli.
Hi Fouady,
I am invited to lunch at a friends' house tomorrow and I need to make a good salad to take it with me. Any ideas?
sis
My god! making toum is like stepping into a minefield…at any given moment…"split"….Finally an entry about toum…I shall try it, but if it fails, I'll just become your friend… : )
Yum, that sauce sounds delicious!
Very nice blog you have and congrats on the foodie blogroll!
First time here. Everything here looks wonderful!
Curios Reader – you've got to try making it. It's really easy. By the way, traditional aioli doesn't actually need eggs at all, but if it fails, the egg white will bind the oil to the garlic and lemon juice sufficiently. To properly be called aioli, it also needs olive oil, but hey
Arwen – the commercially bought toum usually has some emulsifier or potatoes. This is the real deal
Anonymous – you have to be careful, add the proportions just like in the recipe
Simply Life – it is delicious. try it now if you haven't!!!
Pam, Thanks! It explains why I'm getting so many comments.
Sook – Thanks, I try my best, usually.
First time here as well. I love garlic and when I feel brave enough, I would love to try your delish-looking toum.
Great recipe. I am going to try and make it tomorrow. If I succeed how long does it keep for in the fridge?
Margot – Thanks, did you try it/
Anonymous – The one I gave to my friends has around 5 weeks in the fridge
I am so excited to have found your blog! really cool!
Thanks tasteofbeirut!
Fouad,
I love Toum and you recipe!!, I am Lebanese and just launched a new magazine called Poetry of Food, poetryoffood.com. It has writers from Beirut, and Greg Maloug from Sydney. Check it out and please
spread the word on it. Yo will find my mom's lebanese recipes.
rony@poetryoffood.com
Rony
Hi Rony
Thanks for reading! I love your e-mag. It looks great and reads well. I've put a link up on my site to hopefully direct some traffic your way. Good luck!
Fouad
Hi!
So I have a real craving for chicken and garlic at the moment but I have no Lebanese shops nearby to buy any!!…
I thought I might try making it myself but I don't have a food processor
Is there any other way I could do it?
Hi
I thought you might need a speedy reply. I think there is a way to make it by hand, but you need a pestle and mortar. Try this technique, but I make no guarantees, as I have not really tried this (but I've done something similar for balila). You pound the garlic until it is extra fine with a bit of salt. You add the oil a teaspoon at a time, and encorporate thoroughly. I think a whisk can be used as well. Don't add too much in one go, and maybe add some lemon juice every 5 teaspoons or so.
After you've made a bit, try whipping an egg white, and then slowly encorporate the mix into it. After that is done, you can add more oil until you have the desired flavour.
Let me know if this works (yayks, good luck)…
Fouad
Ahahahaha ok, massive fail!
Mainly due to my impatience I think… And the fact I'm completely hopeless in the kitchen!
Thanks for your help anyway! I'm definitely going to try again soon (or have someone else try for me!
)
Thanks so much- recipe definately 'failsafe' as you say. Just dont get too tempted to pour in more oil or lemon juice just because it is nearing the end of it ppl and you will be fine!! Yummm it made so much, cant wait to take it to my family bbq tomorrow! Thanks again!
Hi Fouad! thanks for sharing your recipe– I can literally never have enough of this sauce
I won't lie I was kinda worried at first that it wouldn't come out just right. With all the tips and your specifications in the recipe I have never been more happier. I've always been obsessed with this sauce and adore you for sharing it with the rest of us. Finally I don't have to keep on spending the money to buy this amazing sauce but can make it on my own. thank you thank you thank you… my bank account thanks you as well
Anonymous 1 — oops, emulsions are really tricky things.
Anonymous 2, Eva, and Tony — thank you for reading! I am glad this worked for you! It is a tricky recipe for something so simple.
I just landed on your blog and read your profile, and I think the reason why Lebanese don't blog is because it is not glamorous. Internet connections are fine really, but how many Lebanese will admit that they can or like to cook? Almost none.
Anyhow I was surprised that people add egg whites to Toum. First time I ever hear it. The Pestle mortar thing works, but it can split way easier than food processor one. Mom usually uses pestle and mortar rather than food processor to make it. Easier for smaller quantities but requires more patience. I gotta admit you got a huge batch by the amounts in your recipe. You forgot to mention that Toum goes great with potatoes wether they are baked or fried
One more thing, try to make garlic bread with this or garlic bread and cheese… YUM
Glad I stumbled on your blog.
Hi Viviane and thanks for the comment.
It's funny. I wrote my profile ages ago, and it is in need of an update, as since, I have found several great Lebanese food bloggers. And you are right, toum and potatoes are a match made in heaven.
I wanted to use olive oil, plus a quarter of this recipe. Of course it split. Then I added an egg instead of an egg white by accident. I ended up adding two eggs, hoping it would thicken but it didn't. How can I thicken it and make something worth eating out of it?
Hi Rachael
Basically you will need to follow a mayonnaise recipe, but instead if using oil, you use the mixture you have now. In a food processor, add eggs with some salt and lemon juice and turn it on. In a thin stream, add the the mixture, stopping every once in a while to scrape down the sides.
Have a read here http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/12974/basic+mayonnaise
Good luck
Hi SydneyCider
I made the mayonnaise and it's tangy/strong and fabulous! I'll make wraps with it when my stepsons come over next weekend.
Thank you, thank you!
I want to use a good quality oil when I try this again as I don't trust Canola or normal veggie oil from a metabolism point of view (eg Canola is made from rape seed which is poisonous to humans). I have bought sunflower oil to try next time. Is there any feedback on this?
thanks mate, I will give the garlic dip a go this arvo – i have been looking for this recipe for years! Our local pizza shop (la bella casa) princes hwy tempe, does plain oiled cooked pizza base straight out of oven, then this dip is applied all over the top – its magic!
Andy
Brilliant. I'll try making it and keep you posted. If it doesn't work out, I'll just pop to the shop next door
Hey mate,
How does this recipe turn out making it a mortar and pestle? The traditional way…
Your photo above shows the mixture in a kitchen aid with the whip attachment? Is this to get the airy texture?
The temp. of the water should be cold? Ice cold?
Thanks!
Hi Ore
What you are seeing is the food processor’s blade, not a whisk. I didn’t use anything for texture since it just gets that texture on its own. I used tap water, but have since been advised to use ice cold water, which sounds like a good idea. Give that a try and let us know.
Fouad
Hey, I used sunflower oil (because I don’t trust canola) and it worked (see my mess above trying olive oil)! I finally have the genuine real deal! It’s possibly not as white as canola but that doesn’t bother me.
It had too much salt in this batch, but we added it into a marinara stirfry (my parents are staying this week) and it was the exact flavour match we needed!
That pizza base idea is great too, Anonymous!
Thank you Fouad!