Skordalia

A garlic purée with a starch in it

Skordalia is a thick garlic purée from Greek cuisine. The garlic is the flavour, and a starchy base gives the purée its body: potatoes are the most common, but walnuts, almonds or stale bread soaked in liquid are used too. Olive oil is beaten in until the mixture forms a smooth emulsion, and a little vinegar is added to sharpen it. It is traditionally made in a mortar and pestle, which the sources note as the usual method.

Wikipedia calls skordalia the modern equivalent of ancient skorothalmi, a garlic-based preparation. The term's own origin is uncertain: it may combine the Greek word for garlic, skordo, with the Italian agliata, a garlic sauce. The sources read present this as a possibility, not a settled etymology.

What the starch does

The starch is the part of the recipe that changes most between households. The sources name the bases without comparing their results in detail. Potato, bread, walnut and almond are the bases listed. The choice of base is what varies from house to house.

Eggs used as the emulsifier are a documented variant. That version comes close to the Provençal aïoli and the Catalan allioli, both garlic emulsions. The Wikipedia entry names these as points of comparison and does not claim they are the same dish.

Serving

Skordalia is mainly served with batter-fried salt cod, bakaliaros, especially during Lent and on 25 March, the Greek national holiday. It is also served with fried vegetables such as aubergine and courgette, with poached fish, and with boiled beetroot. In English-speaking countries it is often sold as a dip.

In the Ionian Islands, cod stock and lemon replace the vinegar, and skordalia is eaten as a main dish rather than an accompaniment.

Keeping and handling

The sources read give no shelf life, no holding temperature and no safe limit for skordalia. It is a fresh preparation, and the page does not state how long it keeps; a cook should check that limit against a food-safety source rather than rely on this page.