The next time you take a hostess gift to dinner, skip the flowers and present a puffy white cloud of garlic goodness instead. Lebanese cooks know it as toum (TOOM) and call it a sauce or paste. But it's akin to alchemy.
Joseph Chemali learned how to make it from his uncle, a chef in Beirut. More than a half-century later, the former embassy chef and owner of Shemali's Cafe and Market in Washington spins up to 10 pounds of toum weekly to complement his kebabs and give his customers a kitchen shortcut. In his native land, it's slathered on the lavash that wraps hot, juicy rotisserie chicken.
Toum offers a gentle, handy alternative to the bite of raw garlic and the mishap of over-sauteed slices. It can outlast those whole heads of garlic sprouting on your shelf. Follow Chemali's method for blending its five ingredients, and you, too, can create an aromatic nimbus.
Toum
2 scant cups garlic cloves, peeled (from about 7 heads)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 cups vegetable oil such as canola or soybean oil, divided use
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup water
Puree the garlic and salt in a food processor or blender until as smooth as possible; stop to scrape down the sides several times. With the motor running, gradually:
Add 11/2 cups of soybean oil or canola oil in the thinnest stream; do not rush the process or the mixture will separate. Stop to scrape down the sides.
Add 1/2 cup more of the oil in the same manner; the mixture should begin to set up a bit, with the consistency of creamy cooked grits.
Add 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice. The mixture will become lighter and whiter.
Add 1/2 cup more of the oil in the same gradual fashion as before, then slowly add 1/3 cup water. The mixture will go loose but should not be runny.
Add the last 1/2 cup of oil (this makes a total of 3 cups of it). The resulting garlic paste should be creamy white and fluffy, like beaten egg whites. If not, keep the motor running and add more oil to achieve the right color and consistency. Refrigerate for a few hours before using, and up to 3 weeks.
Makes about 4 cups.
Note: To peel a head of garlic, crush it with the heel of your hand so the cloves separate. Microwave on high 10 to 15 seconds.
Food on 07/09/2014