Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Another mayo relative to try...

From the New York Times we have rouille (pronounced roo-EE):
Finally, I opened my Larousse Gastronomique and there it was: a mix of egg yolks, saffron, garlic, cayenne and olive oil. The instructions were terse. Mash the garlic, then whisk in the yolks and, gradually, the oil. Grinding garlic to a paste in my blender was impossible, so I lugged out my mortar and pestle and smashed the garlic to a pulp. I was about to transfer it to the blender to test fate when I had another idea: finish the sauce with the mortar and pestle. Maybe unplugged was the way to go.

I tried it, pounding the yolks with the seasonings and adding the oil in driblets. Three minutes later, with no culinary skill employed, I had a thick, glossy mound. Unlike a wimpier mayonnaise, the rouille packed a pungent wallop with a musky saffron kick.

Sounds pretty interesting... though with saffron in it, that's some expensive mayo. I don't know about a blender, but my aioli came together quite seamlessly with a food processor... and I know diddly about making mayonnaise. I guess it could have been beginner's luck, but somehow I doubt a mortar and pestle is particularly n00b friendly.

No comments:

Post a Comment