Toum
Toum is a Lebanese garlic-and-oil emulsion: raw garlic, salt, lemon and a little water are processed into a dense, pale, egg-free sauce. Slow oil addition builds its fluffy texture; it is served with grilled foods, sandwiches and mezze.
Modern method
Lebanese-style toum
A home-developed garlic emulsion in a Lebanese toum style, with a separately developed ratio. Nominal yield 298 g.
About this version
This untested home-development ratio is not Maureen Abood's published formula. The cited source supports toum's culinary context and slow oil addition, not this recipe's quantities or storage.
History
Untested contemporary home-development formula; no exact historical attestation is claimed.
Ingredients
Yield 298 g nominal · Scaling: source batch only
Peeled garlic
50 g
Neutral refined oil
200 g
Lemon juice
25 g
Cold water
20 g
Salt
3 g
Method
Risks and precautions · High risk
Botulism toxin in garlic-in-oil
Fresh garlic held in oil can support toxin formation if mishandled; the untested lemon and water ratio does not validate acidification.
Hazard sourceFollow NCHFP's general garlic-in-oil guidance: refrigerate at or below 40°F (4°C) and use within four days; freeze for longer storage, up to several months.
Control sourceThis general garlic-in-oil guidance does not validate this prototype's lemon-water ratio, acidification, or shelf life.
Control sourceLemon juice, sourness or an unmeasured pH does not establish safety.
Not validated for canning or room-temperature storage.
- Process garlic and salt into a very fine paste, scraping down the bowl.
- Work in a little lemon juice.
- While processing, add oil extremely slowly. Alternate small additions of lemon juice and water, allowing the mixture to become white and cohesive.
- Stop if the machine warms the mixture. Transfer to a clean container and refrigerate immediately at or below 40°F (4°C); use within four days or freeze for longer storage.
Conditions
Yield298 g nominal
Places
Lebanon
Modern adaptation · Country evidenceThe source supports toum's Lebanese culinary association, not this prototype formula or a precise birthplace.
Related
More from Lebanon
Kashkaval, traditional sheep-milk method
Kashkaval is a firm sheep-milk cheese whose acidified curd is worked in hot brine. This large-batch method finishes with repeated dry salting, wax coating and cool ripening.
Man’oushe
Lebanese za’atar flatbread made from yeast dough, baked on a heated stone or heavy sheet pan until its rim is golden.
Markouk (small-pan home version)
A small home-pan adaptation of Levantine markouk: rested wheat dough rolled into small rounds and cooked quickly on a hot flat pan. It is thicker and smaller than the hand-stretched sheets made on a saj.
Pita
A yeast-raised wheat pocket bread; this measured oven version bakes eight soft rounds on a preheated stone or steel.
Related in the family
A non-fermented seaweed-and-vinegar dressing
A fresh condiment in which crumbled nori softens in lightly sweetened vinegar and water. It is not vinegar fermented from seaweed.
Allioli (Catalan garlic emulsion)
Traditional Catalan allioli is a dense emulsion of garlic, olive oil and salt made slowly in a mortar. This measured Barcelona-style version keeps egg-based garlic mayonnaise distinct.
Aquafaba mayonnaise-style sauce
An eggless, untested emulsion made with canned chickpea liquid. Nominal yield 255 g.
Avocado-oil mayonnaise
Avocado-oil mayonnaise is an ordinary egg-and-oil emulsion in which avocado oil supplies the oil phase. The oil changes flavour and colour, and it does not preserve the sauce.
Bechamel sauce
Bechamel is a white sauce of milk thickened with a butter and flour roux, one of the French mother sauces, and the base from which Mornay and other cheese and cream sauces are made.
Beurre blanc
Beurre blanc is a warm emulsion of cold butter whisked into a reduction of white wine, vinegar or lemon juice and shallot, a sauce from the Loire Valley and its red-wine version, beurre rouge.
Blue cheese dressing
Blue cheese dressing is a creamy dressing built on crumbled blue cheese mashed into buttermilk, with sour cream, mayonnaise, vinegar and seasoning, and kept cold for up to two weeks.
Bread sauce
Bread sauce is a British sauce of milk infused with onion, clove and bay, thickened with stale breadcrumbs and finished with butter, served with roast chicken or turkey.
Community
No community contributions have been published for this entry yet.
Share what you made
Sign in to contribute. Published comments and photos are free to read.
Sources
Maureen AboodContext · Process · Geography
Toum Garlic SauceDescribes Lebanese toum as a garlic, oil, lemon and salt emulsion and explains gradual oil addition; this record uses a different formula.
National Center for Home Food Preservation, University of GeorgiaSafety
Freezing Garlic-In-OilNCHFP reports garlic-in-oil held at room temperature can risk botulism; it recommends making fresh, refrigerating at or below 40°F (4°C) for no more than four days, or freezing for longer storage up to several months. This is general guidance, not validation of this lemon-water formula.
Food Standards AgencySafety
Chilling food correctly in your businessGeneral chilled-food guidance; not formula-specific validation.