Toum- Lebanese Garlic Sauce

One of Andy's volleyball buddies is known for bringing this intense garlic dip/spread to potlucks and people go crazy for it. He said the most labor intensive part is peeling all the cloves of garlic. I noticed there is peeled garlic (sometimes- not all the time) at Costco and decided to make our first batch. 

I used this recipe  and our trusty food processor. Even without peeling garlic, it still takes about 20-25 min to make because of how slowly you need to add the oil at first. I tasted it after making it and it burned by mouth- not at all like I remember, and then I read the fine print at the bottom of the recipe: "It is best to give toum time to rest before serving, so it's a good idea to make it a few days in advance. This will help mellow the garlic flavor." Fortunately, it lasts a couple of weeks in the fridge.

Toum

Source

• 4 to 5 heads garlic, or 1 1/2 cups peeled garlic cloves
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 4 cups neutral oil, such as canola or safflower
• 1/4 cup ice water

1. Halve the garlic. Peel 4 to 5 heads garlic until you have 1 1/2 cups peeled cloves. Halve the garlic cloves lengthwise and remove any green sprouts. (Note- I didn't do this. I just dumped the whole cloves in the food processor)
2. Process the garlic and salt together. Place the garlic in a food processor. Add 2 teaspoons kosher salt and pulse until minced and paste-like, stopping to scrape down the bowl as needed, about 10 pulses.
3. Add the lemon juice. Add 3 tablespoons lemon juice a tablespoon at a time, pulsing to completely incorporate each addition before adding the next. At this point, the mixture should be a very soft paste, smoothie-like in consistency.
4. Add a drop of oil at a time. Measure out 4 cups neutral oil in a measuring cup with a spout. Take your time here, the whole process of incorporating the oil can take 15 to 20 minutes. With the motor running, use a teaspoon to drop 1 drop of the oil into the garlic. Stop and scrape down the bowl. Repeat processing in the oil 1 drop at a time, stopping and scraping down the bowl between each addition. At first it will seem like nothing is happening.
5. Add a few drops of oil at a time. Once the garlic begins to look a bit creamy (after about 1/4 cup oil is added), add the oil a couple of drops at a time, stopping and scraping the bowl between each addition. Repeat until an emulsion is fully formed and it becomes thick and spreadable.
6. Stream in the remaining oil (I found that a funnel inserted in the feed tube of the food processor made this much easier to do without spilling oil). With the motor running, drizzle in the remaining oil in a very slow, thin, steady stream through the tube. After adding 1 1/4 cups of the oil, the sound of the mixing will change and sound like churning ice cream, signifying the mixture is thickening. The final consistency should be light and fluffy, like mayonnaise or whipped cream.
7. Add the ice water. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in 1/4 cup ice water. Once added, the texture will go from thick and almost gelatinous to smooth and creamy.

Just starting to add drops of oil

Nearly done- most oil added