The Secret BBQ Condiment, Heavy on the Garlic

About author / Amy Powell

World traveler; gourmet 30 minute meals; lover of exotic ingredients; winner on FoodTV's Chefs vs City; graduate French Culinary Institute. Her recipes will tantalize your taste buds.

If you are looking for the ultimate summer condiment, all I can say is, don’t plan on making out with anyone later in the night. Have you ever had a chicken shawarma, those layers of seasoned, smoky chicken skewered and sliced to order served over a warm pita? If you have, you probably remember a white garlicky paste served with it. Without that pungent white paste, flavored of garlic but not quite identifiable outside of that, the pita would be not much more than a chicken sandwich.

Garlic one of the key ingredients for many grilled meat condiments from around the world. In Argentina you have the herb, olive oil, and garlic blend called chimichuri that graces every plate of grilled meat. In Vietnam grilled pork is often doused with a mixture of garlic, chopped chilies, vinegar, and fish sauce. And in the Mediterranean through the Middle East, some form of garlic paste graces many a table to be slathered generously on meat right off the grill.

The basic whitish garlic paste finds its roots in Lebanon. Not unlike a mayonnaise or aioli, Lebanese toum is that very paste that graces nearly every plate of chicken shawarma here or in Lebanon. Upon investigation, the method for making this near perfect compliment for grilled and skewered meats is not unlike the making of mayonnaise. In its purest form, toum is a simple combination of crushed garlic, lemon juice, salt, and olive oil. The white past consistency is achieved through a pain-staking process of mashing the garlic and slowly incorporating the olive oil, most often using a mortar and pestle. Like making a good aioli, the oil is slowly incorporate whipped in with the garlic to form the perfect emulsion or paste.

Unless you have the genes of a Lebanese grandmother, the tedious process of making toum is beyond the patience of most cooks; it might require years of practice to perfect. Lucky for us, modern technology or even a bit of cheating can take the Lebanese gene requirement out of the recipe. Working with a high powered blender or food processor can take the process down to a matter of minutes rather than an hour. Or to cheat like many do, turn the toum into a super garlicky aioli with the addition of an egg yolk at the beginning to give stability.

Not far along the Mediterranean coast another country uses a whitish, garlic laden paste as an all purpose condiment as well as a spread to be eaten on its own. Greek skordalia is the sort of addictive lemon, garlic and olive oil based condiment that you just can’t stop eating even as you try and figure out what gives it the distinct fluffiness that sets it apart from toum. In addition to resembling toum, skordalia gets is flavor from the generous addition of garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil.

What gives the Greek version its distinct lightness comes is the addition of cooked russet potatoes. These can be leftover mashed potatoes from a meal the night before or quickly “baked” potatoes in the microwave. The cooled potatoes are mashed with crushed garlic, salt, and lemon juice. Olive oil is whipped in until the mixture is smooth, light, and the desired taste.

When grilling-out chicken or skirt steak this summer, especially if time was too tight for a marinade, all it takes is one breath-killing condiment heavy on the garlic and lemon to turn a boring piece of meat into something extraordinary. To borrow a bit from the best of both countries, I enjoy a hybrid of toum and skordalia with my meat. Once my toum achieves a mayo-like consistency I whip in some cooked and cooled mashed potatoes. The result is punchy garlic paste light enough to look like I have Lebanese genes but with that same killer taste that keeps me going back for more. And if I’m still looking for a kiss at the end of the night, I’ll have to make sure that my boyfriend loves the toum as much as I do.

Serves/Makes: 4

• 1 medium russet potato
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 4 bone-in chicken legs, thighs and drumsticks attached
• vegetable oil
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 cup olive oil (more if needed)
• 1 lemon, juiced