In my Gouda posting (one of the last shots) you see the front side of my all-time favorite restaurant: La Cubanita. It’s a very informal and fun tapas bar where you can write on the walls and drink sangria through a straw.

As soon as you sit down at one of their cozy tables they bring you a basket filled to the brim with delectable fresh, chewy bread and with it comes this amazing allioli. That’s what I had in mind when Elena emailed me and asked me if I needed her recipe for Catalan allioli. I jumped at the chance!

Now I know there’s not supposed to be egg yolk in an authentic allioli. Seriously, the name kinda says it all; all-i-oli. Garlic-and-oil. I first tried the original version—the one with just garlic, oil and a pinch of salt—and was surprised I actually got an emulsion going without the yolk, but flavor-wise I prefer the mayonnaise version. Sacrilege, I know.

I used my immersion blender and whipped up a large batch of homemade allioli in no time. We served it with Moroccan flatbread during our last BBQ. It was a big hit!

If you’re a garlic junkie, as I am, this one’s for you!

Ingredients:

3 garlic cloves
roughly 1 cup olive oil
1 large egg yolk
lemon juice
worcestershiresauce
salt

Directions:

You can do this with a mild olive oil as well as with a real peppery extra-virgin oil. I opted for the mild one because I wanted a light flavor.

My garlic cloves were huge. One clove pretty much equaled 3 medium cloves. Feel free to use more or less. Give it a rough chop.

You’ll also need fresh lemon juice. Just a squeeze.

If you have a fear of salmonella you can choose to buy pasteurized eggs for this purpose. I used a regular, fresh egg yolk.

 
In your blender or immersion blender bowl combine the garlic, egg yolk, 1/4 tsp salt, and a squeeze of lemon juice. Add enough oil to cover the ingredients and blitz until you have an emulsion going.

This is what said emulsion looks like.

That’s your cue to slowly drizzle in the oil while continuing to blitz. And I mean really slowly.

Keep drizzling in oil until you have the exact consistency you like. I stopped around 1 cup of oil.

Check the seasoning and add salt when needed. I wanted to bring out the flavors even more and what better way to do that than by adding a few drops of worcestershiresauce? It really adds depth.

This was seriously good! I literally whipped it up in 3 minutes straight, I couldn’t believe it. The allioli is so creamy, flavorful and nice and heavy on the garlic. Exactly how I like it.

Thanks a million, Elena!