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09/21/2000 Archived Entry: "Grand Aioli on the French Riviera"

Tonight, aboard the Radisson Diamond, I hope this is what we are eating. We docked in Cannes yesterday, today in Monte Carlo, tomorrow in Nice, and Grand Aioli is one of the grand dishes of the French Riviera. I am also hoping to get some bouillabaisse in. My friend Francesco de' Rogati, who lives in New York but summers in Monte Carlo, is supposed to arrange for us to have one when I visit him today.

Aioli

Aioli is garlic mayonnaise, no more, no less. When one says they are making or eating a Grand Aioli, however, it is an extravaganza of everything you can gather to slather or dip into the aioli. This can include, and usually does, boiled potatoes, hard-cooked eggs, poached white-fleshed fish (I particularly like salt cod - baccala - which is traditional). An array of cooked vegetables is certainly a feature of Grand Aioli, too.

6 large cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1. If using a mortar, make sure it is not cold. If so, warm it by placing it under hot tap water, then dry it thoroughly. In the mortar, combine the garlic and salt. Pound together until the garlic is a smooth paste. Alternately, put the garlic in a blender with the salt and process until the garlic is very finely chopped.

2. Add the eggs to the mortar and, still using the pestle, work them into the garlic paste, stirring and crushing. Or add the eggs to the garlic in the blender and process until very well blended.

3. If using a mortar, switch from a pestle to a whisk and whisk in a few drops of olive oil. Whisk in a few more. As the mixture begins to thicken, add the olive a little more at a time, eventually working up to a thin stream. If using a blender, with the blender running, add oil a few drops at a time, then in a thin stream.

4. Taste for salt and correct with fine salt if necessary. Serve at room temperature. (If preparing ahead, refrigerate - for up to two days - then return to room temperature before serving. The aioli is most attractive served out of the mortar in which it was prepared.)