Explore the world of alt makeup with unique and creative styles that defy traditional beauty standards. And Cocador will be a guide for exploring. Try cute and playful alt makeup looks or experiment with alternative eyeliner for any occasion. Discover new ways to express yourself with makeup alt and get inspired to create your own signature looks. You’ll see more ideas below like these

• Cute and Playful Alt Makeup Looks to Try
• Creating Alternative Eyeliner Looks for Every Occasion
• Makeup Alt: Exploring Unique and Creative Styles

Elevating Your Look with eGirl Eyeliner and Alt Eyeliner

Transform your appearance with alternative makeup and break free from traditional beauty standards. Spice up your makeup look with egirl or goth eyeliner for a bold statement. Explore various eyeliner looks, including gothic eyeliner, to create a dramatic effect. Experiment with cute or grunge egirl makeup and alternative makeup looks. Achieve a standout e-girl makeup look using e girl eyeliner, false lashes, and full coverage, and complete the look with powder blush and a dark lip. Alternative makeup offers endless possibilities for self-expression.

Grunge and Soft eGirl Makeup Looks to Try

Explore new makeup styles with grunge and soft egirl makeup. Grunge makeup features bold, edgy looks using dark eyeshadows, smudged liner, and striking lips. In contrast, soft egirl makeup has a playful, colorful vibe with bold eyeliner and bright hues. These styles offer ample opportunities for self-expression, so why not try something new and experiment with your makeup look?

Top Goth Makeup Brands for Alternative Beauty Lovers

Are you a goth makeup fan looking for new brands to try? Discover new goth makeup brands like Lime Crime, Kat Von D Beauty, and Jeffree Star Cosmetics to create bold and edgy looks. These brands offer a range of dramatic makeup products, including dark lip colors, smoky eye shadows, and unique foundations and concealers. Experiment with these alternative beauty brands to discover new gothic makeup looks that suit your style.

Cute and Playful Alt Makeup Looks to Try

Embrace your creativity with cute and playful alt makeup looks that feature bold colors, unique shapes, and playful accents. Experiment with bright eyeshadows, fun eyeliner shapes, and unique accents like glitter, jewels, or stickers. The possibilities are endless with cute and playful alt makeup, so let your imagination run wild and create unique and fun looks that express your style.

Pretty Goth Makeup Looks: Achieving the Perfect Balance of Dark and Girly

Achieve a distinct and eye-catching appearance with pretty goth makeup, which combines dark and edgy elements with feminine and romantic accents. Experiment with a mix of bold and subtle eye makeup, and lip colors to find the perfect balance between dark and girly. Discover your unique style by trying out new goth makeup products and techniques. Unleash your creativity and create a pretty and distinct look that suits your personality.

Creating Alternative Eyeliner Looks for Every Occasion

Achieve a range of looks with versatile eyeliner, from bold and dramatic to soft and subtle. Experiment with different eyeliner looks for various occasions, such as the playful and bright egirl eyeliner for the daytime, or the intense and edgy goth eyeliner for nighttime. Explore various alt eyeliner looks, including geometric shapes and graphic lines, to create a unique and creative look that represents your individuality.

Pretty Goth Makeup Looks to Try in 2023

Get ready to experiment with some new pretty goth makeup looks in 2023! Balance dark and light elements with bold eyeliner, smoky eye shadows, and moody lip colors while adding feminine touches such as soft pink blush or rosy highlighter. You can also try unique and creative accents like glitter or jewels to make a bold statement. Whether you’re heading out for a night on the town or just expressing yourself, pretty goth makeup is an excellent choice.

Makeup Alt: Exploring Unique and Creative Styles

For an edgy and daring makeup style, try makeup alt. This trend allows for experimentation with unconventional looks like graphic eyeliner and bright colors. You can try different styles like grunge or soft egirl makeup, goth eyeliner, and pretty goth makeup. Don’t be afraid to take risks and try out new alternative makeup looks. You might be surprised at the stunning styles you can create!

Nose Blush: The Newest Beauty Trend Taking Over

Nose blush is the newest beauty trend for 2023, replacing cheek blush. It creates a cute and youthful look, perfect for spring and summer. Choose a blush shade that complements your skin tone, apply it lightly to the tip of your nose, and gently blend it out for a subtle and natural finish.

Uwu Makeup: A Fun and Playful Makeup Style

Uwu makeup is a fun and playful makeup trend that channels your inner child with bright colors, graphic liner, and glitter accents. It’s perfect for special occasions or adding a splash of color to your everyday look. Try it out with fun accessories like hair clips and bows!

Eyeliner Looks Egirl: How to Achieve the Soft and Dreamy Look

Soft and dreamy egirl eyeliner is a popular trend, and for good reason. This look features a smudged liner with a gentle wing for a romantic and whimsical appearance. Apply light eyeshadow, draw a thin line with a pencil liner, smudge it lightly, extend it into a delicate wing, and finish with mascara and false lashes.

Gamer Girl Makeup: A Guide to Achieving the Perfect Look

Gamer girl makeup is perfect for streaming your favorite games. This look features bold and dramatic eye makeup in dark and edgy colors like black and purple. Start with a good base, apply full coverage foundation, and add a thick wing using dark eyeliner. False lashes and dark lip color complete the look.

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They’re also very vegetarian-friendly, and there’s a whole menu with just vegan food. I forget what they call it on the menu—they have this dish kind of similar to elotes, creamy Mexican street corn. It’s fantastic. You can’t go wrong with just sweet corn, spices, butter, and mayonnaise. The food here is definitely what you want to eat after a night of drinking. They have a great selection of coffees, juices, and kombucha, too.

Everything they do at Paladar 511 is so simple and so good, and when you take a bite of their food, all the flavors come together wonderfully. The restaurant’s right down the street from my house, in the Marigny Faubourg neighborhood, and I end up going there quite a lot. The space is beautiful, but still sort of industrial, with weathered, painted brick walls, high ceilings, and large windows that let in good light.

But my wife and I always go for a savory option, and share a classic fines herbes omelette with Gruyère cheese. Beyond that, the savory sides are all perfectly made, too: The Lyonnaise potatoes and the ratatouille are really spot-on, and they make their own bread in-house. The food’s all very tasty.

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Because Ethiopian families traditionally purchase green coffee beans and roast them at home, Folklores sells beans this way to meet the needs of the Ethiopian and Eritrean residents that live nearby. Folklores also makes fragrant micro batches of coffee beans using its small in-house roaster, packaging the beans in bags for customers to buy and take home. Blends range from fairly acidic lighter roasts, with hints of lemon peel and white flowers, to warmer dark roasts with notes of tobacco and chocolate.

Folklores’ full-bodied whole-milk latte with hints of cinnamon wakes me up most mornings. Gideon rightly chuckles at me when I ask for medium strength—fair warning, Folklores’ brew will fuel you for hours. Try the Ethiopiano, a squat piccolo latte topped with a shot of espresso and a dollop of foamed milk. If you’re looking for a slower, more traditional coffee experience, the jebena is a quiet morning treat: You’ll receive a medium-ground rich brew served in the type of spouted clay pot that’s typically used in Ethiopian coffee ceremonies.

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Here, though, the customers aren’t down-and-out types, but rather tattooed and beanie-clad neighborhood folks. And the Tex-Mex menu isn’t typical diner fare, but a hot-spiced step up. The chicken-fried chicken, doused with spicy chorizo gravy and accompanied with sweet peas, shows how it’s done. The addictive hash, mixing crazy-crisp potatoes, blistered shishito peppers, and queso fresco, can be scarfed all day. Alas, you’ll need to be an early riser to experience the flapjack covered in granola and bittersweet Mexican-chocolate sauce. Dove’s serves it sizzling in a cast iron skillet, and it’s thick enough to merit the “cake” in “pancake.” An extra $1.50 gets you a fried egg atop anything on the menu.

It stacks up like this: a layer of dough, followed by mozzarella cheese, another layer of dough, then sauce and toppings. Did you catch that? Cheese is packed between two crusts, not laid on top of one, as with traditional deep-dish. Giordano’s bakes the mightiest version, an insanely hulking pie whose slices weigh more than a half pound each and whose crust rises two inches off the plate to cradle the mound of tangy sauce. It’s comfort food supreme—soft, warm, and so, so filling.

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Manjar is spread and sandwiched between two flat cracker-like biscuits before it is covered in sweet and fluffy meringue for a bite that’s creamy, sugary, and crunchy all at once. Paraguay has its share of unusual dishes—like empanadas served between two pieces of white bread, and chipa bread made with manioc flour and cheese—but my favorite is the dulce de guayaba. Boiled guava is puréed with sugar and water (and often pectin) to form a thick sweet-tart gel that can be sliced and served with a cracker or piece of semi-hard white cheese. It’s exactly what cheese course dessert lovers should be eating for the postre. Some call it flan, some call it crème caramel, but in Venezuela, our jiggly egg and condensed milk friend is called quesillo. Unlike versions found in other parts of the world, this local rendition calls for whole eggs, instead of just yolks, to give an airy, less dense texture. It’s topped with a thin caramel syrup for a touch more caramel flavor.

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When Jamie Oliver dissed Brazil’s most beloved confection, the country erupted in just as much outrage as it did when the soccer team was humiliated at the World Cup. Similar to a truffle, this ultra-sweet two-biter is made from sweetened condensed milk heated with cocoa powder to form a paste, then mixed with cold butter and rolled into small balls—which are then rolled in toppings like brown sugar, sprinkles, coconut shavings, or almonds. They’re often eaten at birthday parties. t a Peruvian restaurant, it would be unusual not to find suspiro limeño featured on the dessert menu. This classic postre dates back to 18th-century Peru and translates to “sigh of a woman from Lima.” It’s made from a creamy manjar blanco caramel base, topped with a huge dollop of Italian meringue perfumed with port and cinnamon, and served in individually portioned glasses. Sugar atop sugar, it’s only for those with an insatiable sweet tooth. Uruguayan food might not be known internationally, but this cake certainly should be. Named after a native Uruguayan bird, chajá starts from a sponge cake base and a peach syrup that’s spiked with a few tablespoons of rum. Add on layers of meringue, fresh peaches, whipped cream, and dulce de leche, then smother the whole cake with mounds of whipped cream and top it off with more sweet crisp meringue and peaches.

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It’s a dish mostly found in southern Brazil, which originated within enslaved African and Afro-Brazilian communities during the late 17th century. The hominy soaks overnight before simmering with the milk until it becomes very thick and creamy, with a texture reminiscent of rice pudding. Generally eaten to celebrate Independence Day, pastelitos are a point of Argentine patriotic pride. Flaky puff pastry is filled with sweet quince or sweet potato paste and formed into a flower or pinwheel shape, then deep fried in lard or sunflower oil until golden brown. It’s finished off with sugary glaze, and topped with festive sprinkles. The sugary cake is light and fluffy and while there’s a delicate trace of peach and rum flavor, the whipped cream, dulce de leche, and meringue definitely star. Every year in June during the annual corn harvest, Brazilians chow down on canjica de milho, a sweet, thick corn-based dessert made with hominy (whole white maize kernels), sugar, milk, and often cinnamon, sweetened condensed milk, and peanuts.

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Imagine the lovechild of a spice cake, a pumpkin pie, and a beignet, and you’ll get an idea of Peru’s picarones, which date back to Peru’s colonial days. Potatoes are everywhere in Peru—more than 3,800 varieties are grown there—so even the desserts are papa-packed. In this case, camote, a type of sweet potato, is mixed with macre, a type of squash, to form a silky purée. It’s combined with flour, sugar, yeast, and anise, formed into a round doughnut shape and deep fried. The light and airy sweets are then drizzled in chancaca (chopped raw sugar dissolved in hot water until it forms a molasses-like syrup), and served immediately. These sweets may not be as popular as they once were, but still make appearances at almost every old school bakery and on tables during holidays. Vendors often add pink or yellow food coloring to give it a bright, attention-grabbing color. These foamy and fluffy treats are often served with sweet-tart blackberry syrup to balance the sugar overload a bit.

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Brazil has been making cachaça since the mid-1500s, shortly after becoming a Portuguese colony, and so cachaça is definitively intertwined with Brazil’s history and culture. (Cachaça is actually older than rum, which dates back to the mid-1600s.) The government of Brazil is arguing that cachaça’s links to the country’s history and culture mean that cachaça is a uniquely Brazilian product, and deserves international legal protection as a Brazilian product.

What this means, however, is that cachaça needs to be legally defined and classified as a unique product to gain this protection from the World Trade Organization and other international bodies. It needs to be unique compared to knock-offs from other nations. Simply originating in Brazil solves that problem. But it also needs to be unique compared to rum, and this is trickier. Different woods impart different flavors to the final product, so if your palate is used to the flavors of oak-aged spirits, you may find surprising aromatic and flavor notes in a aged cachaça.

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Then, The Nutrition and Labeling and Education Act of 1990 passed, ensuring that all products acquired the now-familiar list of “Nutrition Facts”; it became a lot easier to see just what your cereal had to offer. According to NPR, cereal consumption peaked in 1996 and has been on a steady decline ever since. Nicholas Fereday, a food investment analyst, told The New York Times that it’s been “a death by a thousand cuts,” affected by everything from declining birth rates (fewer children, cereal’s biggest consumers) to changing tastes to increased gluten intolerance. About 18% of American’s don’t even eat breakfast, up from 6% in 1977, and for those that do, they’re increasingly turning to the wider variety of options available, from oatmeal to eggs to granola bars to fast food. Harry Balzer, a food researcher, told NPR, “We keep looking for what’s the most convenient way to take care of that 12 minutes that we have to eat in the morning time…What’s the easiest way to do that? And a bowl of cereal—you got to dirty a bowl. You got to dirty a spoon. You got to clean that stuff.”

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We’ll address Texas in a moment, but let’s first take a look at what has long been the standard line in food histories on pastrami’s roots in America. Most accounts point to one of two establishments as the first to sell pastrami in the United States.

But both of these origin stories have a few chronological problems. Katz’s Deli has long dated its founding to 1888, the year when two immigrant brothers, Morris and Hyman Iceland, supposedly opened a Lower East Side delicatessen called Iceland Brothers. It is said to have become “Iceland & Katz” when Willy Katz bought into the firm in 1903, and then just “Katz’s Delicatessen” in 1910. But city directories and immigration records show that the Icelands didn’t actually arrive in the United States until 1902, and Hyman Iceland didn’t open his original delicatessen on East Houston Street until 1911. (You can read a more detailed chronology of Katz’s Delicatessen on my website.)

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Yup, definitely smoother and lighter in texture. But let’s be honest: Who the heck wants to peel that many chickpeas one at a time?

There’s a much easier way to do it, for the record. Once you’ve cooked your chickpeas, transfer them to a bowl of cold water and massage them firmly between your hands. The skins should mostly slip off and start to float above the chickpeas, making them relatively easy to scoop out and dump in the compost.
Still, not having to peel them at all would be easier. It occurred to me that I might be letting my typical cook’s instincts get the better of me in this situation. I’d been cooking the chickpeas until they were perfectly creamy and intact—the way I’d want them if I were serving them whole. But in this case, what if I just went all out and cooked the out of them?

I tried it, cooking the chickpeas until they were literally falling apart—skins, flesh, and all.

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I finally settled on soaking the chickpeas overnight with a little baking soda and cooking them in fresh water on the stovetop, with onions, carrots, celery, garlic, bay leaf, and some more baking soda, until tender. I then drained them, reserving a little cooking liquid to adjust the texture of the hummus.

Do You Need to Peel Dried Chickpeas for Hummus?
Read enough recipes for hummus, and you’ll start to note that those promising extra-smooth texture all have one thing in common: peeling the chickpeas before blending. Even our own Josh Bousel agreed in his recipe, finding that the tough skins were responsible for most of the lumps in lumpy hummus.

So I dutifully peeled an entire batch of chickpeas before puréeing them (…34…35…36…finally got one bite’s worth of chickpeas done!) and had some friends come over and taste them, side by side with a batch of hummus made from unpeeled chickpeas.

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For the Cake: In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine eggs, sugar, and salt. Using a whisk attachment, whip on high until eggs become thick, pale, and ribbon-y, about 10 minutes. With mixer running on medium, slowly drizzle in oil in a thin stream until fully incorporated and thick. Whisk in grated ginger, about 10 seconds, then shut off mixer and remove bowl.

Using a flexible rubber spatula, fold in almond flour, walnuts, cinnamon, and nutmeg until combined. Fold in grated apple. Pour batter into prepared pan and gently tap on the counter to evenly distribute. Bake until golden brown and top of cake bounces back to the touch, about 50 minutes.

While cake is still warm, loosen exposed short sides of cake from pan using an offset spatula or butter knife. Using parchment paper as a handle, lift cake out of pan and onto a cutting board. Cut cake into diamond shapes by making a series of diagonal slices in one direction across the cake, then making another series of diagonal slices in the opposite direction. Lift sliced cake, again using parchment, and return to pan. Strain syrup over warm cake using a fine-mesh strainer, then let sit at least 1 hour to allow cake to fully absorb syrup. Serve.

Special equipment
9-by-13-inch anodized aluminum baking pan, medium nonreactive saucepan or saucier, stand mixer, instant-read thermometer, fine-mesh strainer

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Light one chimney full of charcoal. When all the charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and arrange the coals on one side of the charcoal grate. Set cooking grate in place, cover grill, and allow to preheat for 5 minutes. Alternatively, set half the burners on a gas grill to the highest heat setting, cover, and preheat for 10 minutes. Clean and oil the grilling grate.

Special equipment
grill, stand mixer or food processor

Notes
For a much quicker, easier version, use store-bought flatbreads reheated on the grill until crisp and blistered on both sides, about 1 minute per side. Brush with olive oil and za’atar as directed. Labne is a Middle Eastern strained yogurt that can be found in most high-end grocery stores, such as Whole Foods, or in specialty markets. If unavailable, use strained Greek yogurt instead. Store-bought pre-mixed za’atar can be used in place of the homemade version. Use 1/2 cup total. If using commercial za’atar, salt content will vary; adjust according to taste. If you cannot find sumac, add 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest to the mixture in its place.

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Working with one ball of dough at a time, stretch dough with floured hands or a rolling pin into an oblong or circle roughly 10 inches long and 6 inches wide. Once you have 2 or 3 pieces stretched, lay them out directly above the hot side of the grill. Cook without moving, popping any large air bubbles with a knife or the edge of a spatula or pizza peel, until bottom side is charred in spots and light golden brown. Flip with a large spatula, pizza peel, or tongs and cook until other side is charred and browned. Remove bread from the grill, transfer to a large plate, and cover with a clean dish towel to keep warm while you cook the remaining bread.
To Serve: Form the za’atar mixture by combining oregano, thyme, savory, sesame seeds, sumac, and salt in a small bowl and stirring with fingers until homogenous. Brush finished flatbreads with olive oil and sprinkle generously with the za’atar mixture. Place labne in a serving dish, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with za’atar. Serve bread with labne immediately.

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Yogurt or milk ensures that the flatbread stays tender on the grill, while also giving it plenty of flavor and milk proteins for extra browning.
Cooking directly over a grill provides the high heat necessary to char the bread while allowing it to stay soft and moist inside.
You need more grilled bread in your life. Trust me on this one. This grilled flatbread with za’atar is a great place to start—the dough is an extremely versatile one, made with yogurt and ready to go from scratch to table all in one afternoon, but the real key here is not to skimp on the za’atar. This is not a light dusting or even a big pinch. This is bread pretty much caked in the stuff, and that’s how it should be.

For the Flatbread (see note):
10 ounces (about 2 cups) bread flour
1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
6 1/2 ounces (about 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon) yogurt or whole milk
To Serve (see note if using store-bought za’atar):
1 1/2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons minced fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons minced fresh savory
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
1 1/2 tablespoons ground sumac (see note)
2 tablespoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt
Extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing and drizzling
3/4 cup labne (see note)

Turn dough out onto floured work surface. Using a bench scraper or a knife, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, then place on a well-floured surface (leaving a few inches of space between each one) and cover with a floured cloth. Alternatively, place each ball of dough in an individual covered pint-size deli container. Allow dough to rise at room temperature until doubled in volume, about 2 hours.

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Getting Ready: Adjust rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a 9- by 13-inch anodized aluminum baking pan with parchment paper, covering bottom and long sides of pan. (It’s all right to leave the short sides exposed.) Lightly grease pan with nonstick cooking spray.

For the Syrup: In a 2-quart nonreactive saucepan over medium-high heat, simmer together sugar, apple juice, ginger, and lemon peel until syrup reaches 234°F (112°C) on an instant-read thermometer. Remove syrup from heat and add lemon juice and Applejack. Set aside and allow to cool to room temperature.

For the Flatbread: Combine flour, salt, yeast, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk until combined. Add olive oil and the yogurt or milk and knead with dough hook at low speed until dough comes together into a smooth ball. Dough should stick slightly to bottom of bowl as it kneads (add slightly more yogurt or milk as necessary). Continue to knead for 5 minutes. Alternatively, form dough in a food processor by adding all ingredients and processing until the dough rides around the blade. Transfer the dough to a clean bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and allow to rise at room temperature until roughly doubled in volume, about 2 hours.

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Grated apple tenderizes what might otherwise be a heavy cake.
The cool syrup plumps the hot cake and infuses it with additional flavor and sweetness.
This Sephardic cake is an ideal Passover dessert, as it contains no flour or leavening.
Tishpishti is a traditional Sephardic cake, in the spirit of nutty, sweet, syrupy North African and Middle Eastern desserts like baklava. Though it’s commonly served at Passover, when flour and leavening action are forbidden, I like it any time I need a gluten-free dessert. This is my Americanized version: a heady mix of spices and citrus, with grated apple added to the traditional nut-based cake. Rather than rose blossom syrup, I opt for a ginger-infused syrup that’s boozy with Applejack, America’s own apple brandy.

For the Syrup:
1 cup sugar (7 ounces; 200g)
1 1/2 cups unsweetened apple juice (12 ounces; 340g)
2-inch piece ginger (2 ounces; 60g), unpeeled, cut in half lengthwise and smashed
Zest from 1 medium lemon
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (1/2 ounce; 14g), from about 1 lemon
4 tablespoons Applejack brandy (2 ounces; 60g)
For the Cake:
4 large eggs (6.8 ounces; 190g)
3/4 cup sugar (5 3/4 ounces; 160g)
1 teaspoon (4g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for table salt, use about half as much by volume or the same by weight
1 cup vegetable oil (8 ounces; 220g), or any other neutral oil
2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger (1 ounce; 30g)
2 1/2 cups almond flour (8 ounces; 230g)
1 1/2 cups finely chopped walnuts (6.2 ounces; 175g)
2 teaspoons (6g) ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 cups grated unpeeled Fuji apple (12 ounces; 340g), from about 2 medium apples

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Next, I very slowly add oil in a thin stream. Adding the oil too quickly will flip the emulsion inside out, dispersing water droplets into the oil and resulting in a greasy sauce, so it’s important to take it slow.

I interrupt the oil stream after each half cup with spoonfuls of lemon juice and water. This prevents overcrowding the liquid phase with too many droplets of oil and breaking the emulsion. Continuing this process, alternating with oil and water, will yield a fluffy, thick, and stable garlic sauce. Add more oil for a thicker and milder spread, or less for a more pungent and free-flowing sauce.

How to Fix Toum When It Breaks
Sometimes, even after you’ve delicately drizzled in oil and patiently made your garlic paste, this fussy sauce will still break—perhaps because the food processor overheated the toum, or the garlic was old and dry. Don’t worry: You can harness the emulsifying powers of an egg white to bring it back together. Just combine one egg white with a quarter cup of the broken emulsion, and process until fluffy before slowly pouring in the rest. Although this won’t be a traditional toum, it will still be delicious and creamy.

Stocked with homemade toum, you’ll never be left to suffer the whims of miserly takeout portions or greedy husbands again.

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Thankfully, toum is pretty easy to make and stays fresh in the fridge for a month, so there’s no reason not to always have a surplus. Ever since realizing this, I’ve been able to focus on more important things during dinner—like constructing the perfect bite of shish tawook, charred onion, and pickles on my fork.
This gutsy spread is a staple of Lebanese cuisine, and more than just another condiment. It’s great for stirring into soups and pasta, marinating chicken, and tossing with roasted vegetables; it adds an energetic punch of garlic to anything, without requiring the hassle of daily peeling and mincing. It’s also a pungent vegan alternative to mayo, and serves to perk up any sandwich. Toum has become a staple in my fridge, and, since it requires only four ingredients and a food processor to make, there’s nothing stopping you from also living beyond the limits of a few two-ounce containers.

What Is Toum?
Toum is essentially a mayonnaise, but it’s stabilized with garlic instead of egg. Just like mayo, toum is an emulsion of oil into water made possible with the help of a third-party emulsifier.

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After peeling the cloves, I always split them in half lengthwise and remove the germ, as the little sprout in the center can leave a noticeable sharpness in raw applications. (Read my article on removing the garlic germ for a more in-depth explanation.)

I process the cloves in a food processor, along with kosher salt for some added friction. Initially, the chopped garlic will want to spray along the sides of the bowl, so you have to frequently stop to scrape down the sides, pulsing until the garlic is completely puréed. The garlic needs to be fully broken down in order for the proteins and stabilizers to be released from within its cell walls.

Once the garlic is smooth, I blend in only some of the fresh lemon juice. With mayo, all of the liquid can be added at the start because the egg is such a strong emulsifier. But because garlic is a weaker emulsifier, we need all the help we can get, and keeping the paste thick creates more drag on the oil droplets, helping to keep them apart.

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An emulsion always involves two incompatible liquids that are brought together by dispersing one into tiny droplets suspended throughout the other. This can be done with vigorous shaking and agitation—as when you’re whisking oil into a vinaigrette—but without an emulsifier, the coupling is only temporary. Emulsifiers and stabilizers help these droplets stay dispersed by coating each one and reducing the surface tension, preventing them from coalescing.

Mayo is such a stable emulsion because the lecithin and proteins in an egg are some of the most powerful emulsifiers around. One egg is capable of emulsifying one gallon of oil, resulting in a stiff and spreadable sauce. A properly made toum will be just as thick and densely packed with billions of oil droplets, but it’s all held together with the far less stable proteins and pulverized plant tissues of garlic. This makes bringing toum together a more delicate process than making mayo, but with some patience, you can easily avoid pitfalls.

How to Make Toum
This first step is to make a smooth and fluffy garlic paste. Start with the freshest garlic for the most flavorful toum: Pre-peeled cloves sold in bulk lose much of their pungency, while old, sprouting heads of garlic can be bitter and harsh. Look for firm, tight heads with no signs of bruising or sprouting.

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If using yogurt and milk, start at least 3 hours and up to a day in advance by

placing both in a bowl. Whisk well and leave in a cool place or in the fridge

until bubbles form on the surface. What you get is a kind of homemade buttermilk, but less sour.

Tear the bread into bite-size pieces and place in a large mixing bowl. Add

your fermented yogurt mixture or commercial buttermilk, followed by the rest

of the ingredients, mix well, and leave for 10 minutes for all the flavors to

combine.

Spoon the fattoush into serving bowls, drizzle with some olive oil, and garnish generously with sumac.

How to make toum, the powerful Lebanese garlic condiment, at home in your food processor, and what to do if it breaks. Whenever my husband and I order delivery from our favorite Lebanese place, the center of the meal isn’t the chicken shawarma or the mixed grill for two—it’s the potent garlic sauce, toum. Despite my desperate messages for extra toum, they never pack more than three two-ounce containers of the stuff. I carefully ration the precious substance, but my husband mindlessly finishes his tub and a half and descends onto my share, leaving me forced to recalibrate each of my smears and paw hysterically at empty containers.

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