Aleppo chile peppers, which have been cultivated in Syria for centuries, are quite mild in terms of heat, with a hint of raisin-y, sun-dried tomato sweetness. Due to the ongoing civil war, true Aleppo pepper from Syria is no longer available for import, but chiles grown in neighboring Turkey are. You can find Aleppo pepper at Middle Eastern markets, or online. Korean gochugaru or paprika can be substituted for Aleppo pepper in this recipe.

Ground sumac can also be found at Middle Eastern markets or online. It adds a bright, tart finish to this dish.

Make-Ahead and Storage
Manti can be par-baked through Step 17, cooled, transferred to zipper-lock freezer bags, and frozen for up to 3 weeks; to finish, bake from frozen following recipe instructions, for 20 to 25 minutes. Broth can be made in advance and refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or frozen for up to 3 weeks (the picked meat from the lamb shank or neck can be added to the broth or stored in a separate zipper-lock bag); reheat gently in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Manti filling can be made in advance and refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 24 hours. Manti dough can be made in advance and refrigerated, wrapped tightly in plastic, for up to 24 hours; bring to room temperature before rolling. Yogurt-garlic sauce can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Sadly, as my family members grew older and schedules grew busier, we let this annual ritual fall by the wayside. I use “we” here, though in truth the decision was never up to me or any of the other men in my family, since we never participated in the work of making manti ourselves. When the women of our clan decided that they no longer had the time or energy to make manti for Christmas Eve, it was a sad but entirely understandable moment, in light of the labor involved.

Which is why I wanted to create a manti recipe for you here, to bring our family tradition back, even if only in recipe form. I used my Aunt Esther’s manti recipe as the inspiration and starting point for my own. I’ve streamlined her process slightly by turning to labor- and time-saving tools like a pasta roller and pressure cooker, and I’ve taken liberties with the dough formula a little, but for the most part I’ve tried to remain true to the spirit of her recipe, and the result.

As with all filled dumplings, manti are best made in a group setting, where the jobs of rolling, cutting, filling, and shaping can be shared among many people. For the time being, that’s obviously not an option, but I can say that during many rounds of recipe testing my wife and I had no problem making many hundreds of manti all on our own, just the two of us. Nor did we have any problem eating them all ourselves.

While first tray of manti bakes, repeat steps 7 through 14 with remaining 2 quarters of dough, followed by step 16 to bake and cool remaining manti (cooled manti can be transferred to zipper lock freezer bags and frozen for up to 3 weeks). Once all manti are baked, adjust oven racks so that one is in upper-middle position, the other is in lower-middle position, and lower oven temperature to 325°F (165°C). For the Yogurt-Garlic Sauce: Using a fork, mash garlic and salt to a rough paste on cutting board. Combine yogurt and garlic mixture in small bowl and whisk until evenly combined. Cover and refrigerate until needed. To Finish and Serve Manti: In large saucepan, bring broth to boil over high heat. Add reserved lamb pieces, reduce heat to medium-low, and cover. Return both baking sheets of manti to oven and bake until manti are golden brown and heated through, 15 to 20 minutes (20 to 25 if starting with frozen manti). Add about 1/2 cup (120ml) hot broth to individual serving bowls. Place 15 to 20 manti in broth and top with 3 to 4 tablespoons yogurt-garlic sauce. Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon of Aleppo pepper and sumac each. Serve immediately. (Lamb pieces reheated in the broth are meant to be served as a treat with any remaining manti.)

Special equipment
Electric or stovetop pressure cooker, fine-mesh strainer, pasta roller, rimmed baking sheets

For the Broth:
1 pound (450g) lamb shanks or lamb neck slices
1 1/2 teaspoons (4g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt, divided; if using table salt, use half as much by volume or the same weight
1 quart (960ml) homemade or store-bought low sodium chicken stock
5 medium garlic cloves, lightly crushed
1/4 cup (60g) tomato paste
For the Dough:
280 grams (about 10 ounces; 2 cups) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon (135ml) water (add extra 1 teaspoon (5ml) if rolling dough by hand)
1 large egg yolk (15g)
For the Manti Filling:
1 small onion (about 6 ounces; 170g), peeled and quartered
3 medium garlic cloves
1 tablespoon (6g) fresh parsley leaves and tender stems
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper (or an additional 1 teaspoon paprika; see notes)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 ounces (170g) ground lamb or 85% lean ground beef
2 tablespoons (30ml) extra-virgin olive oil
For the Yogurt-Garlic Sauce:
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups (450g) Greek yogurt
For Serving:
2 teaspoons Aleppo pepper (or paprika or gochugaru; see notes)
2 teaspoons ground sumac
For the Broth: Sprinkle lamb evenly on all sides with 1 teaspoon salt and place on wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet. Let stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours.
Combine lamb, chicken stock, garlic, tomato paste, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt in a pressure cooker, and stir to combine. Seal pressure cooker, and bring to high pressure over medium-high heat, if using a stovetop model, or by setting to pressure-cooker mode on an electric multi-cooker. Cook at high pressure for 40 minutes, adjusting heat as needed to maintain high pressure (if using a stovetop pressure cooker; electric ones will automatically regulate the heat and pressure level).

Up until a few years ago, eating manti was a Christmas Eve ritual for my extended Armenian family. For weeks before the holiday, the women in the family would gather together on weekends at my Aunt Esther’s house to make the tiny dumplings, which they’d then freeze. Hours and hours (and hours) of work went into making enough manti to feed a few dozen people a meal they’d been looking forward to eating all year long. And then it would be over, and we’d all have to wait another year.

Manti are common to many Central and West Asian cuisines, small parcels of spiced ground lamb or beef surrounded by thin wheat dough wrappers that are typically steamed or boiled. However, Armenian manti, sometimes called “sini manti,” are a little different. The diminutive, canoe-shaped, and open-faced dumpling are baked until crisp instead, and are served in a tomato-infused meat broth, finished with a dollop of yogurt, minced garlic, and a sprinkling of Aleppo pepper and sumac powder. To me, this the ultimate manti, since the combination of flavors and textures is unparalleled: crunchy-crisp dumplings, their corners softened gently by the hot, aromatic broth, paired with the cool, tart yogurt, all of it brightened by lightly spicy, fruity, and tart garnishes.

Place dough on lightly floured work surface. Fold both ends in so that they meet at the center of the dough, and then fold the dough in half where the end points meet, trying not to incorporate too much air into the folds. Using rolling pin and fingers, flatten and stretch dough to 6- by 3-inch rectangle that is 1/4 inch thick. Pass through the rollers lengthwise 3 additional times. Narrow the setting by 1 notch and pass dough 3 times through the machine at this setting. Narrow the setting by 1 notch and pass dough twice through the machine at this setting. Continue passing the dough through the rollers, reducing the thickness by 1 setting each time until it measures about 24 x 3 x 1/16 inches (setting 5 on a Marcato Atlas pasta roller). It should now be very delicate and elastic to the touch, and slightly translucent. Transfer rolled dough to lightly floured work surface, and lightly coat both sides of dough with flour to prevent sticking. Using pastry wheel, pizza cutter, or sharp knife, cut sheet crosswise into fourteen 1 3/4-inch-wide strips. Divide each strip in half crosswise into two 1 1/2- by 1 3/4-inch strips; each sheet of dough should yield at least 28 strips.

Break up ground lamb into small pieces, add to food processor, and pulse to combine, 8 to 10 one-second pulses (do not over-process, as this will make the filling chewy and bouncy rather than tender). Transfer filling to an airtight container and refrigerate until needed (mixture may be made up to 24 hours in advance). To Roll the Dough and Bake Manti: Set oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Using a pastry brush, coat 2 rimmed baking sheets with 1 tablespoon (15ml) olive oil each and set aside. Dust countertop lightly with flour. Unwrap rested dough and cut into quarters. Set one quarter on work surface and re-wrap remaining dough. Using rolling pin and fingers, flatten and stretch dough to 5- by 4-inch oval that is 1/4 inch thick. If using pasta roller, proceed to step 8. If rolling dough by hand, roll dough into 12- x 8 1/16-inch rectangle using a rolling pin. Cut dough in half lengthwise to yield two 12- x 4-inch sheets. Cut each strip into seven 1 3/4-inch-wide strips. Divide each strip in half crosswise into two 1 1/4-inch squares; each sheet of dough should yield at least 28 squares. Proceed to step 13. Set pasta roller to widest setting and pass dough 3 times through the machine lengthwise at this setting.

Using 1/8 teaspoon measuring spoon, place scant 1/4 teaspoon ball of meat filling in center of each strip of dough.  Working one at a time, using lightly floured hands and fingertips, lift strip of dough in hands and fold in half loosely over filling lengthwise. Pinch sides of dough together, working your way toward filling to enclose it (do not seal dough across top and do not push ball of filling up and out of dumpling). Place manti on lightly floured counter and then gently pinch ends between fingers to form flat-bottomed, stable canoe shape. Transfer to prepared baking sheet and repeat with remaining strips of dough. Using fingertips, gently press meat filling into manti to make them flush with top of dough. Repeat steps 7 through 14 with another quarter of dough (if rolling by hand, repeat steps 7, 13, and 14). Place baking sheet of manti in oven and bake until lightly and evenly golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack and allow to cool to room temperature.

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.

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.

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.

Suggested tweaks: It’d be easy to swap in different mix-ins here. Shredded carrot would be a nice addition and diced fuyu persimmon would be a great substitute for tomatoes during winter months. Be sure to keep the proportions the same though; the proportion of bread-to-veg is already pretty perfect.

Reprinted with permission from Jerusalem: A Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi, copyright 2012. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House. All rights reserved. Available wherever books are sold.
scant 1 cup / 200 g Greek yogurt and 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp/200 ml whole milk, or 1 2/3 cups/400 ml buttermilk (replacing both yogurt and milk)
2 large stale Turkish flatbread or naan (9 oz/ 250 g in total)
3 large tomatoes (13 oz/ 380 g in total), cut into 2/3-inch/1.5 cm dice
3 oz/100 g radishes, thinly sliced
3 Lebanese or mini cucumbers (9 oz/ 250 g in total), peeled and chopped into 2/3 -inch/1.5cm dice
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 oz/15 g fresh mint
scant 1 oz/25 g flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon dried mint
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup/60 ml olive oil, plus extra to drizzle
2 tablespoons cider or white wine vinegar
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sumac or more to taste, to garnish

As Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi write in the introduction to Na’ama’s Fattoush in Jerusalem: A Cookbook, there is no escaping chopped salads in Jerusalem. Some are simple amalgamations of tomato, cucumber, onion, and lemon vinaigrette, while others, like Arab fattoush, contain a cornucopia of vegetables mixed with leftover pita bread.

This version comes from Tamimi’s family and has the tangy addition of homemade buttermilk dressing. Even made with less-than-perfect November tomatoes, Na’ama’s Fattoush is vibrant, crunchy, chewy, herbaceous, and creamy all at once.

Why I picked this recipe: Who could resist such a vibrant salad, especially when there’s copious amounts of chewy bread involved?

What worked: Tangy, crunchy, and just a little sweet, this fattoush is a colorful surprise bite after bite (not to mention a total breeze to make).

What didn’t: I would have liked more fresh mint and a little less buttermilk in the dressing (not all of it soaked into the bread, so I was left with buttermilk soup at the bottom of the bowl).

To make Solomonov’s version, you start by putting whole, unpeeled garlic cloves—a whole head’s worth of them—in a blender with a good amount of lemon juice and blending it to a pulpy purée. You then press the liquid through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl. The first time I tried this, I was convinced that it was going to be incredibly, inedibly pungent and sharp. A whole head of raw garlic was in that bowl, after all!

To my surprise, I smelled the liquid and tasted it and found that, while it had a powerful, sweet garlic aroma, it had none of the harshness or raw, hot garlic bite you’d expect. Clearly this was something that was going to need further investigating, but for the time being, I moved on, promising that I’d come back to it later.
Finishing the tahini sauce is as simple as adding some ground cumin and store-bought tahini—sesame paste is one of those things that are simply easier and better to get store-bought than to try grinding at home—and thinning it out with water.

Tahini behaves in an interesting way when you add liquids to it. Out of the jar, it’s pretty soft and flowing. As you add a little water or lemon juice, it’ll first seize up and turn thick like cement. Continue adding water, and it’ll eventually thin out into a pourable sauce. Whisking thoroughly between small additions of water ensures that the sauce is smooth, light, and lump-free.

Canned Versus Dried Chickpeas for Hummus
Time to address the chickpeas. I started by tackling the obvious first question: Are dried chickpeas really better than canned?

A couple of quick blind tastings gave me an answer. The bland, tinny flavor of canned chickpeas can’t compare to the full flavor of chickpeas that are cooked from dry before blending. But carefully rinsing canned chickpeas to remove excess liquid (it’s the liquid that’s the biggest culprit in that canned flavor), then simmering them for about an hour in fresh water with some aromatics, can work wonders, so, in a pinch, there are ways to make canned chickpeas better.

To cook my chickpeas, I tried a few methods, including soaking versus not (soaking overnight is a good idea if you remember to do it, but you can cook un-soaked dried chickpeas without a problem if you’re willing to simmer them for an extra hour or so); adding baking soda to the soaking and cooking water (this raises the pH, which helps the chickpeas break down and soften more easily); and cooking them on the stovetop versus in the >pressure cooker (the latter is great for speed-cooking, but it will also deepen the color a little, giving you a darker hummus).

Because the chickpeas need to be totally raw before the falafel balls are formed, the standard quick-soak method of bringing the beans to a boil and letting them sit for an hour will not work with this recipe.

Dried Chickpeas
Starting with dried chickpeas is an automatic improvement in flavor. Just like with making hummus, I’ve found that dried chickpeas have a cleaner, more straightforward chickpea flavor, while canned chickpeas can get a tinny, skunky taste to them. If you cook those dried chickpeas before making falafel, you run into the same issues you find with canned—they just don’t bind. Because the chickpeas need to be totally raw before the falafel balls are formed, the standard quick-soak method of bringing the beans to a boil and letting them sit for an hour will not work with this recipe. The key to great falafel is to soak the dried chickpeas, but grind them while they’re still completely raw.

Extracting Moisture for Creamier Baba Ganoush
Next step: drainage. In Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty, he suggests transferring the scooped eggplant flesh to a fine-mesh strainer to drain off excess liquid. This is a good idea—the dip I made with drained eggplant flesh had a much better, creamier texture than the version made with undrained flesh—but it’s time-consuming, taking up to an hour for the eggplant to drain completely. Could I hasten the process?

I tried squeezing the eggplant in cheesecloth and pressing it through my fine-mesh strainer with a ladle. Both methods work, but they’re a bit messy. Instead, I reached for my salad spinner, placed the fat chunks of eggplant flesh around its perimeter, then took them for a gentle spin and watched as the brown, watery juices flowed out of them. I was left with eggplant as dry and concentrated in flavor as if I’d let it rest in a strainer for a full hour, in just about 30 seconds.

She’d wait until they were meltingly tender before recruiting me to carefully peel them, and then she’d mix them up with lemon juice, tahini, garlic, and olive oil. The resulting dip was simultaneously smoky, savory, bright, and creamy.

Could I say it was the best thing I’d ever had? No. Could I even say it was the best baba ganoush I could have imagined? Uh-uh. But what I had in that first bite was the promise of greatness, and I’ve been seeking that greatness ever since.

Like many great dishes, baba ganoush is extraordinarily simple in concept: Roast some eggplants; scrape out the flesh; mix it with some garlic, lemon, tahini, and olive oil; and serve. It’s in the details where things get a little more complicated.

Choosing and Cooking the Eggplant
First things first: the type of eggplant. Big ol’ globes are usually the eggplant of choice, but I find that smaller Italian eggplants tend to be more intensely flavored, have fewer seeds, and are smaller, and therefore quicker to cook, to boot.

A few simple tricks make this the richest, smokiest, creamiest baba ganoush in town.
Charring the eggplant over high heat infuses the baba ganoush with plenty of smokiness.
A salad spinner is the quickest and easiest way to remove moisture from the cooked eggplant flesh, concentrating its flavor.
Emulsifying the eggplant, tahini, and olive oil by hand, instead of using a food processor, produces a chunkier dip with pleasant textural contrast.
The first time I had a taste of truly excellent excellent baba ganoush—the Middle Eastern dip of roasted eggplant mixed with olive oil, sesame tahini, garlic, and lemon juice—it was made by a good friend of mine, an Israeli line cook who’d take time out of her afternoon to hover over the eggplants as they slowly charred over the open flames of the kitchen’s burners. She’d wait until they were meltingly tender before recruiting me to carefully peel them, and then she’d mix them up with lemon juice, tahini, garlic, and olive oil.

Ingredients
1 cup garlic cloves (4 1/2 ounces; 130g)
2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt (for table salt, use 1 teaspoon)
1/4 cup (60g) fresh juice from about 2 lemons, divided
1/4 cup (60g) ice water, divided
3 cups (600g) neutral oil, such as grapeseed or canola, divided

If there’s one thing you should know about making baba ganoush, it’s this: Cook your eggplants until they’re done, then cook them some more. Your eggplants should be deeply charred and completely tender, collapsing at the slightest touch and giving no resistance when poked with a toothpick or knife. When you lift them from their stem caps with a pair of tongs, they should hang completely limp, like deflated hot-air balloons. A good rule of thumb? Cook them until you think they’re burnt beyond saving, and that’s when you’re good to go.

When cooking the eggplant, one of our primary goals is developing some nice smoky flavor. This comes from the charring of the skin and requires the intense radiation of a broiler or a direct flame. If you’ve got an outdoor grill, that’s your best bet; you want to carefully turn the eggplant directly on the flame until it is soft and charred. Otherwise, a broiler will do.

Mortar and Pestle Method: Depending on the size of your mortar, you may need to make the recipe in smaller batches, halving or quartering the ingredient amounts. In the mortar, combine garlic and salt and grind until it becomes a smooth paste. Work oil into paste 1 teaspoon at a time. After adding 1 tablespoon oil, work in a few drops of lemon juice. Repeat until all the oil, lemon juice, and water have been incorporated.

Special equipment
Food processor or mortar and pestle, paring knife

Notes
For the ideal light and fluffy texture, stick with either the food processor or mortar-and-pestle method described here. Trying to make the toum in a blender or with an immersion blender will result in a thin and dense texture closer to that of a mayonnaise or dressing than traditional toum.

If the emulsion breaks, it can easily be brought back together with the help of an egg white. Combine 1 egg white with 1/4 cup of the broken emulsion in the bowl of a food processor until fluffy. With the food processor running, slowly pour in the remaining broken emulsion.

Make-Ahead and Storage
Toum may be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

Directions
Using a paring knife, split each garlic clove in half lengthwise. With the tip of the knife, remove the germ from each garlic clove half.
Food Processor Method: Place the de-germed garlic and kosher salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse garlic in short bursts until finely minced, occasionally removing the lid to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a flexible rubber spatula. Add 1 tablespoon lemon juice and continue processing until a paste begins to form. Add another tablespoon lemon juice and process until completely smooth and slightly fluffy.
With the food processor running, slowly drizzle in 1/2 cup oil in a very thin stream, followed by 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Repeat with another 1/2 cup oil and remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Continue the process, alternating 1/2 cup oil and 1 tablespoon water, until all the oil and water have been incorporated. Transfer toum to a container and store in the fridge for up to 1 month.

After adding each half cup of oil, add spoonfuls of lemon juice and water. This prevents breaking the emulsion by not overcrowding the liquid phase with too many droplets of oil. Alternating oil and water will yield a fluffy, thick, and stable garlic sauce. Add more oil for a thicker and milder spread or garlic dip, less for a more pungent and free-flowing sauce.

How to Fix Toum When It Breaks
Sometimes, even when you’ve delicately drizzled in oil and patiently made your garlic paste, this fussy sauce still breaks—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. 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 be delicious and creamy.

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

How to Make Toum
This first step is to make a smooth and fluffy garlic paste. For the most flavorful toum, start with the freshest garlic: 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.

After peeling the cloves, I 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.)

Process the cloves in a food processor, along with kosher salt for added friction, until 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, blend in some fresh lemon juice. With mayo, all of the liquid can be added at the start because the egg is such a strong emulsifier. Because garlic is a weaker emulsifier, keeping the paste thick creates more drag on the oil droplets, helping to keep them apart.

Next, add oil very slowly, 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.