I am always thinking about garlic, Japan’s garlic is nothing to compare with the Chinese grown garlic, as it’s often contaminated with Aspergillus, and for that matter many garlic’s around the globe. Yet the garlic in Japan is so clean, no off aromas, just a rich tasting experience. In anticipation of some guests I experiment with making Aioli.

The Chinese are the worlds largest producers of garlic with 14,000,000 tonnes per year. So what is the social stigma about one of the most important widely used plant ingredients in the entire world. I am not sure except, the pungent taste lingers on, upsets some social circumstances, or enlightens them, it all depends at which way you look at it.

Think back to the sophistication of the Egyptians and their use of garlic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giza_pyramid_complex.

Hippocrates, and Pliny the Elder, mentions the use of garlic for many conditions, including problems of poor digestion, and low energy. In China it dates back to 2000 B.C, and in Korea it is a sacred food.

The idea of garlic in Europe, especially in Italy, Spain and France makes us wonder why their cuisines are so remarkable. Garlic is a wonderful stimulant, it makes us “turned on” and we find it inside almost all popular foods in Europe.

Garlic alone, or eaten raw is almost impossible except in a few cases, and aioli is one of them. Garlic cooked, sautéed, friend, chopped, stewed, fermented or whatever is common.

In fact there are eight or more different garlic types are protected in Europe and some which I know very well. When I was based in Paris, I used to go to Rungis three days per week. I jumped into my smart at 03h00, I had a professional card to access the market, and I walked the fruit and cheese markets buying some of the best produce.

I was mesmerized by the heaps of dried garlic from Lautrec, a rose-pink garlic named Ail rose de Lautrec. I used to admire the Aglio Rosso di Nubia, a red garlic of Nubia from Nubia-Paceco in Sicily. When I visited Ferrera I found the Aglio di Voghiera, a superb garlic. The one thing all these garlic’s have in common is the perfect look, a look of integrity, and a purity that exists only in such varieties.

Thinking about garlic inspires this recipe, a very simple ailoi, requires egg, oil, etc. The process requires emulsification, the converting of two immiscible liquids, forming a homogeneous solution, commonly known as emulsion. During this process, large fat globules are broken down into smaller – evenly distributed particles.

Aoili doesn’t require a recipe because it is a touch-look-taste food: take garlic, oil, egg yolk, citrus and optionally mustard, etc and go!