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Toum is thought to have originated in Lebanon but is eaten throughout the Middle East. The word ‘toum’ itself translates to ‘garlic’ in Arabic, which is a testament to its key ingredient. Across the Middle East, garlic has long held a significant culinary place, not only for its flavour but also for its many health benefits including boosting the immune system and aiding digestion.
Traditionally, making Toum was a labor-intensive process, achieved by grinding garlic into a paste in a pestle & mortar and then slowly working in the oil and lemon juice. These days, a food processor is used in most kitchens. However, there is an easy hack to blend the toum in less than 60 seconds, which I am sharing in this recipe.
How to Fix a Broken Toum
If you’re emulsion breaks (the oil and garlic split), don’t worry. You can still save the batch. Simply follow the tip at the end of this recipe.
Ingredients
1 garlic bulb (60g – 70g cloves)
40ml lemon juice
200 ml sunflower, rapeseed or olive (not extra-virgin) oil
Method
Peel all of the garlic. You can speed this up by soaking the cloves in boiling water for just 1 minute and draining them immediately. The peel will slide off easily. Cut each garlic clove in half and remove the germ with a small knife. Then cut the halves in half again to have smaller chunks of garlic.
Place the garlic into the jug of a hand mixer and add 1/2 tsp salt followed by the sunflower oil, lemon juice and 1 tbsp of cold water. With the hand blender positioned on the bottom of the jug, purée the garlic into a smooth paste without lifting the blender. It will automatically suck in small amounts of oil to emulsify with the garlic. After a couple of seconds, start lifting the blender minimally, only to allow a fraction more oil to stream in, then press it down again. Keep doing this to work in the rest of the oil until the emulsification is complete (you will notice the sound change). Then work in any of the garlic that hasn’t been blended yet. Your Toum should be as thick as mayonnaise. Scrape it into a bowl and serve.
What to do if your emulsion breaks? The easiest way to fix a broken emulsion is to transfer the ingredients to a tall jug and add 4 tbsp of aquafaba (the liquid in a tin of chickpeas). Now use an immersion blender to blend it all together. Within a few seconds, it should emulsify into a smooth sauce.
Toum
Toum (the Arabic word for garlic), is a Lebanese garlic dip that is made by emulsifying garlic & oil into a delicious paste. The process is not too far from making mayonnaise, just instead of an egg yolk, it’s the properties of the garlic that emulsify it into a stable dip. It’s a test for the ultimate garlic lover and goes beautifully with anything grilled.
5 from 2 votes
Active Time 15 minutes minutes
Course dips
Cuisine Lebanese
Ingredients
- 1 garlic bulb (60g - 70g cloves)
- 40 ml lemon juice
- 200 ml sunflower, rapeseed or olive (not extra-virgin) oil
Instructions
Peel all of the garlic. You can speed this up by soaking the cloves in boiling water for just 1 minute and draining them immediately. The peel will slide off easily. Cut each garlic clove in half and remove the germ with a small knife. Then cut the halves in half again to have smaller chunks of garlic.
Place the garlic into the jug of a hand mixer and add 1/2 tsp salt followed by the sunflower oil, lemon juice and 1 tbsp of cold water. With the hand blender positioned on the bottom of the jug, purée the garlic into a smooth paste without lifting the blender. It will automatically suck in small amounts of oil to emulsify with the garlic. After a couple of seconds, start lifting the blender minimally, only to allow a fraction more oil to stream in, then press it down again. Keep doing this to work in the rest of the oil until the emulsification is complete (you will notice the sound change). Then work in any of the garlic that hasn’t been blended yet. Your Toum should be as thick as mayonnaise. Scrape it into a bowl and serve.
What to do if your emulsion breaks? The easiest way to fix a broken emulsion is to transfer the ingredients to a tall jug and add 4 tbsp of aquafaba (the liquid in a tin of chickpeas). Now use an immersion blender to blend it all together. Within a few seconds, it should emulsify into a smooth sauce.
Notes
Storage: Keep refrigerated for 4 weeks.
