Gareth takes a certain amount of pride in his cooking, as he should. He produces a consistent quality of food like I have never eaten before. My first year living with him, I gained 20 pounds and have been fighting to keep the weight in check for the duration of our relationship.
His recent delving in Spanish cuisine has resulted in much experimentation with emulsified sauces, most of which I refer to as mayonnaise. He has a tendency to cringe at the word, as if it could only refer to Hellman's Best, and then informs me that the sauce I am eating with such enthusiasm is actually an aioli. Which inevitably leads us to a discussion about the fine line between the two.
Both contain a base of egg yolk, oil and acidity - usually vinegar, citrus juice, or both. (Gareth has gotten exceptional results with orange juice.) As he has explained it to me, an aioli contains some vegetable matter - most often garlic. But it actually goes a little further than that. A real aioli starts with a mortar and pestle. The fresh garlic is "muddled" - a technique in which the pestle is used to gently mash the garlic, releasing all its aromatic qualities. Then, oil is added and further muddled. The mixture is added to egg yolk and citrus juice and blended until emulsified.
Either sauce works well as a dressing for fish and vegetables fresh off the grill. We are still discussing what to call that. I say salad, he says..... well he's not sure what it is.
No comments:
Post a Comment