Easy Toum

The Not-So-Traditional Recipe

I was introduced to Toum by my partner’s family. My mother in law makes toum regularly and they consume it in much the same way that my family would use tomato sauce – it’s used on meat, vegetables, sandwiches, as a dip, on chips, etc. Basically anything can be improved with a hefty dollop of toum.

What is Toum?

Toum is what aioli wants to be when it grows up. It’s a traditional lebanese garlic sauce that is so garlicky it burns and you feel it right up your nose… and yes…. That’s a good thing. Traditionally it has 4 ingredients – garlic (obviously), lemon juice, olive oil and salt. But don’t let that small ingredients list fool you into thinking it’s easy to make! Traditional Toum takes some skills – and needs to be made in large volumes. Whereas this super easy “Toum” recipe is basically foolproof and can be made in a much smaller quality (approximately 1.5 cups)

The “Secret Ingredient”

Egg whites. Egg Whites help stabilse and emulsify the mixture. So, if you have concerns about consuming raw egg – sorry but this recipe isn’t for you.

Finding The Recipe

At this point I also have to admit this isn’t my recipe! I found it while I was searching for an easy way of making toum – after being completely overwhelmed by traditional recipes. Funnily enough I was craving it when I was pregnant with my second baby. During my first pregnancy when I had morning sickness we’d go to visit my partner’s parents and his mother was very insistent that I eat, despite feeling sick. And I’d often wind up eating just Toum in wrap bread – which strangely settled my queasiness (or at the very least didn’t make it worse!). So when morning sickness hit the second time around it’s ALL i could think about… at this point I have to fess up to eating raw egg while pregnant. But when I could barely eat, and I was vomiting everything, it was the only thing I could think of stomaching.

I only made it a couple of times while I was pregnant, because the guilt and worry over the egg did get to me. But I saved the recipe for after baby was born! It’s been a staple in our household ever since. (It also fits perfectly with my Low-Carb-High-Fat diet) 

And – here it is – “Fast and easy toum recipe.”

*Note: Recipe contains raw egg white and raw garlic which can pose a food poisoning risk.