Allioli
Pungent Catalan emulsion of garlic and olive oil. Traditionally no egg. Eaten with grilled meats, paella and fish.
Allioli is a thick, glossy sauce of crushed garlic emulsified into olive oil. The traditional Catalan version is just garlic, oil and salt, mounted slowly in a mortar with patient drizzling. It's a notoriously hard sauce to make and a notoriously easy one to break, which is why most restaurant versions cheat with an egg yolk for stability. The result is milder and closer to a garlic mayonnaise. Allioli shows up alongside calçots, grilled meats, fideuà, paella, fish, anything that needs a sharp punch of garlic.
How it's served
On the side in a small bowl, dolloped on top of a finished plate, or smeared underneath the protein. Almost never mixed in during cooking; the heat would break the emulsion.
Regional variation
The Provençal aïoli is closer to garlic mayonnaise: olive oil, garlic and egg yolk. The traditional Catalan version uses no egg. The Catalan-Valencian region treats this distinction seriously; most home cooks now make the egg version and call it allioli anyway.
- Origin
- Catalan and Valencian Mediterranean coast
- Etymology
- From the Catalan all i oli, literally 'garlic and oil'.
- Also called
- alioli, aïoli
Where to try it in Barcelona
One restaurant on Guidavera mentions allioli in their kitchen description.
Frequently asked
What's the difference between allioli and aïoli?
The traditional Catalan-Valencian allioli is just garlic, olive oil and salt, emulsified by hand in a mortar. The French aïoli adds egg yolk for stability. Most modern restaurants serve the egg version under the Catalan name; purists object.
What goes with allioli?
Calçots are the textbook pairing, with romesco or salbitxada as the alternative. Allioli also goes with grilled meats, paella, fideuà, grilled fish, lamb chops, roast potatoes. Essentially anything that needs a hit of garlic-and-oil punch.
Why is allioli so hard to make?
Pure allioli has no emulsifier other than garlic, which is borderline incapable of holding olive oil in suspension. The oil must drizzle in drop by drop with constant mortar-pestle motion. Stop or rush and the sauce breaks. Most home cooks add an egg yolk and skip the drama.
Related terms
- CalçotA long, sweet spring onion from Catalonia, charred whole over vine wood and dipped in romesco.
- PaellaValencian rice dish cooked in a wide flat pan over fire. The original is chicken, rabbit, snails and beans, not seafood.
- FideuàA Valencian paella made with short, hollow noodles instead of rice. Comes with allioli on the side.
- Suquet de peixA Catalan fisherman's stew of white fish and potatoes, thickened with an almond-garlic picada.
- RomescoA Catalan sauce of roasted tomato, garlic, almond, hazelnut, dried nyora pepper and olive oil. The default dip for calçots.
- Arròs negreJet-black rice cooked paella-style in a wide flat pan with squid, cuttlefish and the squid's own ink. Served with allioli on the side.
- EscalivadaCatalan smoky vegetables: aubergine, red pepper, sometimes onion and tomato, all roasted whole, peeled and dressed with olive oil.
- Escudella i carn d'ollaCatalan winter stew of meats, vegetables and beans simmered together. Served as two courses: pasta soup first, then the meats and vegetables on a plate. Christmas Day tradition.
- Pa amb tomàquetCatalan bread rubbed with garlic and ripe tomato, finished with olive oil and salt. Comes with almost every meal.
- Patatas bravasFried potato cubes with a spicy paprika-based red sauce, sometimes with allioli too. The default tapa across Spain.
- PulpoOctopus. Boiled tender and dressed with paprika and olive oil in the Galician tradition (pulpo a feira), or grilled on a hot plancha in the Catalan and Andalusian style.
- SocarratThe crackly, caramelized layer of rice stuck to the bottom of a paella pan. The bit most diners reach for first.