Aioli With Garlic Fermented In Raw Honey

Towards the end of 2015, I received a parcel from a French lady, who lives in a small village at the border of Switzerland. Inside the parcel, I found an assortment of French tokens from regional wine to chocolate coated biscuits. The biscuits came in a vintage, tin box. Among the many edible trinkets were bulbs of garlic with their dried leaves neatly braided to enhance the rustic effect. Wow! All the way from France, the land that has an annual festival for garlic.

Fresh pink garlic

Organic Garlic

I remember a friend said to me, “That’s ridiculous! Who sends garlic all the way from France to Australia. I mean…it’s just garlic.” My jaw dropped. Just garlic? I was peeved that she could not appreciate beautiful, organic garlic.

In December last year I had my first harvest of garlic. They were pink garlic. I had about half a kilogram of them [wish I had planted more]. I decided to ferment the garlic in raw honey. Most people use this for medicinal purposes, but I have since used them in salads and even added a teaspoon into the juicer to blend it into the daily juices we drink. Here, though, we are going to make aioli with garlic fermented in raw honey.

Pink garlic from my garden

I harvested onions alongside the garlic

Consume Raw

It is best to consume fermented garlic in its raw form either on its own, in salad, over sandwich or as I have done in aioli. Fermented garlic is less pungent than unfermented. Furthermore when garlic is fermented its beneficial properties are greatly enhanced. For example, when allicin (a powerful antibiotic and anti-fungal compound naturally occurring in garlic) is fermented, it turns into S-allylcysteine (SAC) which is more easily absorbed by the body.

When you ferment, use only fresh garlic. My garlic went straight from the garden into the raw honey. Honey is very shelf stable and can never go bad. It consists of 80% sugar and 20% water, but if you increase the moisture even by a small amount, the wild yeasts in the raw honey will start the fermentation process. Hence it is best to use raw honey that is rich in wild yeasts with potent vitamins and minerals.

Garlic Fermented In Raw Honey

I filled a 500 ml jar with fresh garlic. Peel the skin but leave the cloves intact . Simply fill this jar with garlic till it is about half full. Then pour the raw honey over the garlic until they are fully covered. Shake and turn upside down if necessary to ensure all the garlic is fully coated with honey. This will be difficult when you first fill the jar, but leave it to sit on the counter for a week and the juice from the garlic will slowly seep into the mixture. This will make it easier to shake the contents in the jar.

This juice from the garlic will give the moisture needed for the bacteria and yeasts on the garlic and raw honey to begin fermentation. After about a week to ten days, transfer the jar from room temperature into the fridge to slow down the fermentation. During the time it stays in room temperature, make sure you shake the jar every day.

Aioli With Garlic Fermented In Raw Honey

Ingredients

5 cloves of small pink garlic (lesser if the cloves are larger. It can be of any variety)

2 1/2 tbsp lemon juice

Add egg yolks to the mashed garlic

300 gm olive oil

2 egg yolks

salt to taste

Method

Mash garlic with mortar and pestle. Transfer to a large bowl. Add two egg yolks and then gradually add olive oil, using a teaspoon. I’m a little impatient. So I used a tablespoon. Beat by hand and the mixture will gradually thicken. Half-way through reaching it’s peak consistency, add lemon juice. Then add more olive oil until it reaches the thickness you desire. Finally add salt.

garlic fermented in honey becomes translucent

Serving suggestion:  As a dip for crackers or grilled vegetables, sandwich spread, sauce for fries or sauce for grilled fish. I even use it for falafel where I spread the aioli on the bread before making the wrap.

Tips:

♥ The liquid in which the garlic has been fermenting will become a little watery as the honey has now been diluted. This liquid can be used as a glaze for meat, fish and vegetables, as a salad dressing.

♥ I used up my fermented garlic within five months. It was left at room temperature for one week and then remained in the fridge for the rest of the time.

♥ I used up my aioli with garlic fermented in raw honey within three weeks 

♥ The more oil you add the thicker the aioli gets. So if you want it less thick, add less oil