Three classical derivatives of the emulsified egg-and-oil sauce technique (Entry 15), each occupying its own position in the classical condiment repertoire. Aioli: a garlic mayonnaise of Provence, made by pounding raw garlic in a mortar before the oil is incorporated — not garlic-flavoured mayonnaise (which is a short-cut) but a preparation in which the garlic is the primary flavour and the emulsification happens with the garlic paste as the base. Tartare: mayonnaise enriched with hard-boiled egg yolk, capers, cornichons, and fine herbs — similar to gribiche (Entry 69) but using raw yolk as the emulsification base. Rémoulade: tartare base with the addition of anchovy and Dijon mustard — the sauce that accompanies celeriac rémoulade, the most universal of the classical bistro preparations.
Aioli's flavour is dominated by allicin — the primary aromatic compound in raw garlic, produced by the enzymatic reaction when garlic cells are crushed. As Segnit notes, garlic and olive oil is among the most documented of all chemical pairings: the olive oil's oleic acid emulsifies and carries the garlic's fat-soluble aromatic compounds while the allicin reacts with the oil's own aromatic phenols to produce a combined aromatic depth greater than either separate. Anchovy in rémoulade provides inosinic acid — a nucleotide that amplifies glutamate perception — stacking umami on the already savoury mustard and egg base.
**Aioli (true method):** 1. Pound 4 garlic cloves with a pinch of salt in a mortar until a smooth, creamy paste. 2. Add 1 egg yolk. Combine with the pestle until the yolk and garlic are homogeneous. 3. Add olive oil drop by drop initially, as for mayonnaise, building the emulsion from the garlic-yolk base. 4. The finished aioli is denser and more intensely flavoured than mayonnaise — it should mound on a spoon and hold its shape. 5. Finish with lemon juice and white pepper. **The Provençal Rule:** True aioli uses only olive oil — no neutral oil. The olive oil's fruitiness is structural to the flavour. 'Garlic aioli' made with neutral oil is not aioli; it is garlic mayonnaise. **Tartare sauce:** - Mayonnaise base (Entry 15) with: finely minced shallot or chive, capers (chopped), cornichons (finely diced), flat-leaf parsley, lemon juice. - No hard-boiled yolk in the classical tartare (that is gribiche's distinction). **Rémoulade:** - Tartare base plus: 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard incorporated into the base before the oil addition, and 1 anchovy fillet pounded to a paste and added with the oil. - The mustard in rémoulade goes into the base before emulsification — not added at the end like sauce Robert and the mustard sauces. It is a structural emulsifier as well as a flavouring. Decisive moment: **For aioli:** The garlic paste quality. The garlic must be pounded to a completely smooth, creamy paste before the yolk is added. Any fibrous or coarse texture in the garlic paste will never smooth out — the finished aioli will carry it. The mortar does what no food processor can: it crushes the garlic's cell walls completely rather than chopping through them, producing a paste of completely different aromatic and textural character.
Jacques Pépin's Complete Techniques