Traditional Toum

Ingredients

• 1 cup cloves garlic
• 2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt
• 1/4 cup fresh juice from about 2 lemons, divided
• 1/4 cup ice water, divided
• 3 cups neutral oil, such as grapeseed or canola, divided

Directions

1. Use a paring knife to cut every garlic clove lengthwise through the center. Slip the knife tip under the germ in each half and lift it out.
2. Food Processor Method: Add the trimmed garlic and kosher salt to the food processor bowl. Pulse in quick bursts, stopping now and then to take off the lid and push down anything clinging to the sides with a flexible rubber spatula, until the garlic is very finely chopped. Pour in 1 tablespoon lemon juice and process until the mixture starts turning into a paste. Add another tablespoon lemon juice, then keep processing until the paste is smooth and a little airy.
3. While the food processor runs, pour in 1/2 cup oil very slowly, in the thinnest steady stream you can manage, then add 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Do the same again with another 1/2 cup oil and the remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Keep going in the same rhythm, alternating 1/2 cup oil with 1 tablespoon water, until every bit of the oil and water has been worked in. Spoon the toum into a container and refrigerate for up to 1 month.
4. Mortar and Pestle Method: If your mortar is on the smaller side, make the toum in reduced portions, halving or quartering the ingredient amounts as needed. Put the garlic and salt in the mortar and pound and grind them into a smooth paste. Beat the oil into the paste 1 teaspoon at a time. Once 1 tablespoon oil has been added, blend in a few drops of lemon juice. Continue this pattern until all of the oil, lemon juice, and water are fully incorporated.