Aioli

Did You Know?

• In Malta, arjoli or ajjoli is made with galletti, tomato, onion, garlic, and herbs.
• Since about 1990, it has become common in the United States to call all flavored mayonnaises aioli.
• Garlic is crushed in a mortar and pestle and emulsified with salt and olive oil; today it is often made in a food processor or blender.

Etymology

The word aioli comes from the Provençal words ai and oli. English gets its spelling from the French aïoli, itself adapted from Occitan. In Occitan, it can be written as alhòli or aiòli, while Catalan uses allioli. Spanish most often uses alioli, borrowed from Catalan, along with alternatives like ajoaceite, ajiaceite, ajolio, or ajaceite. Galician also spells it alioli.

Serving

Aioli appears in several regional cuisines. In Occitan cooking, it often accompanies seafood, fish soup, and croutons, as in merluça amb alhòli, or is served with potatoes boiled with salt and bay laurel in the Occitan Alps. In Provence, le grand aïoli is a full meal of boiled vegetables, poached salt cod, snails, canned tuna, other seafood, and boiled eggs, all paired with the sauce. This dish is traditional for Christmas Eve with snails and for Ash Wednesday with cod. The Provençal fish soup bourride also comes with aioli. In Spain, especially in Catalan and Valencian cuisines, allioli is served with arròs negre, arròs a banda, fideuà, grilled snails, grilled meat, lamb, rabbit, vegetables, and boiled cod. Variations include allioli de codony, made with boiled quince, or allioli with boiled pear. Other common vegetables used are beets, fennel, celery, zucchini, cauliflower, chickpeas, and raw tomatoes.