Levantine cuisine · Salads & Mezze

Toum (Garlic Cream)

An airy Lebanese garlic cream, whipped from garlic, salt, lemon and oil into a firm emulsion.

Ingredients · for 8 servings

• 120 g garlic cloves (about 3 heads)
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 4 tbsp lemon juice
• 3 tbsp ice water
• 400 ml neutral oil (rapeseed or sunflower oil)
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

1. Peel the garlic cloves, halve them, and cut out the green germ – it makes the cream bitter and hard to digest.
2. Blend the garlic with the sea salt in a tall mixing jug for 1 minute into a fine, smooth paste, scraping down the sides once.
3. Let the neutral oil run in in a thin thread while blending continuously – the first 100 ml must go in only drop by drop, as this is what decides whether the emulsion holds.
4. After each third of the oil, add 1 tbsp lemon juice and 1 tbsp ice water; the mixture should lighten and thicken with each addition.
5. Keep blending until the cream is mayonnaise-firm and a spoon stands up in it; if it splits, whip 1 tbsp ice water in a clean bowl and slowly stir in the split mixture.
6. Season with the remaining lemon juice, spoon into a bowl, drizzle with the olive oil, and serve with grilled chicken, falafel or flatbread.