Toum (Lebanese Garlic Sauce)

Name: Toum (Lebanese Garlic Sauce)
Ingredients: 10–40 g fresh, peeled garlic (less for a milder thoum, more for a stronger one); ¾ cup olive oil; 1 lemon, juiced and strained; ¼–½ tsp salt

Toum or thoum is a garlic sauce used in Lebanon. The method below is the traditional way toum is prepared in most parts of Lebanon.

Ingredients

10–40 g fresh, peeled garlic (less for a milder thoum, more for a stronger one)
¾ cup olive oil
1 lemon, juiced and strained
¼–½ tsp salt

Steps

Use a pestle (traditionally wooden) to smash the garlic with salt until very smooth; you can add the salt at the beginning or after the garlic is well smashed.
Gradually mix in the oil—start by adding one drop at a time and stirring the oil into the garlic with the pestle. After you've added about 1 tbsp of oil and it's been well incorporated, you can drizzle the oil in rather than adding it drop by drop. After half of the oil is added, alternate a bit of lemon juice with a bit of oil. Don't stop for long while mixing; it's necessary to keep stirring, stopping only for very brief periods. When finished the toum will have a similar consistency to thick mayonnaise.

More recipes with garlic or lemon

Adapted from “Toum (Lebanese Garlic Sauce)” in the Wikibooks Cookbook by its contributors, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Reformatted for this site; this page's recipe text is shared under the same license.