Aioli

Aioli, allioli or aïoli (/aɪˈoʊli/ or /eɪˈoʊli/; Provençal Occitan: alhòli [aˈʎɔli] or aiòli [aˈjɔli]; Catalan: allioli [ˌaʎiˈɔli]; Spanish: alioli [ˌaliˈoli]) is a sauce made of garlic, salt, and olive oil and found in the cuisines of the northwest Mediterranean, from Valencia to Calabria.

The names mean “garlic and oil” in Catalan/Valencian and Provençal. It is found in the cuisines of the Mediterranean coasts of Spain (the Valencian Community, Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, Murcia and eastern Andalusia), France (Provence) and Italy (Sicily and Calabria).

Some versions of the sauce are closer to a garlic mayonnaise, incorporating egg yolks and lemon juice, whereas other versions are without egg yolk and have more garlic. This gives the sauce a pastier texture, while making it more laborious to make as the emulsion is harder to stabilize.[1][2][3][4] There are many variations, such as adding lemon juice or other seasonings. In France it may include mustard.[5][6] It is served at room temperature.

Like mayonnaise, aioli is an emulsion or suspension of small globules of oil and oil-soluble compounds in water and water-soluble compounds. In Spain, purists believe that the absence of egg distinguishes aioli from mayonnaise, but that is not the case in France and other countries, where cooks may use egg or egg yolk as an emulsifier. Using only garlic as an emulsifier requires that the cook thoroughly crush it and add oil drop by drop so excess oil does not “cut” the aioli.

Since about 1990, it has become common in the United States to call all flavored mayonnaises aioli.[7] Purists insist that flavored mayonnaise can contain garlic, but true aioli contains garlic and no other seasoning.[8]