Skorthalia - Garlic Sauce
Submitted by elliott91
Skordalia, a classic Greek garlic sauce made with mashed potatoes, olive oil, lemon juice, and bread. Pungent, creamy, and served with seafood or vegetables.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
30 minCOOK
30 minREADY
60 minSkordalia is one of the pillars of Greek cooking, and it is not for the faint of heart. Six cloves of raw garlic pounded with salt form the base of this intensely pungent sauce that’s been a staple of Mediterranean tables for centuries.
The body comes from mashed potatoes and soaked stale bread, worked together with the garlic until smooth. Olive oil gets drizzled in gradually while you stir vigorously, almost like making a mayonnaise. Lemon juice and vinegar add the acid that keeps the richness in check and gives the sauce its characteristic sharpness.
Traditional skordalia is made in a mortar and pestle, and the texture shows it. Slightly rough, chunky, with visible bits of garlic. A blender gives you a smoother result, but be careful. Over-blending at high speed heats the mixture and causes the oil to separate. Keep it at moderate speed and stop the moment it’s smooth.
Chef Tips
- Pound the garlic with salt first. The salt acts as an abrasive and breaks the garlic down into a paste much faster than pounding alone.
- Squeeze the soaked bread thoroughly dry. Wet bread makes the sauce thin and watery.
- Add the olive oil in a thin stream while stirring constantly. Dumping it in all at once and the sauce won’t emulsify properly.
- Chill for at least an hour before serving. The garlic mellows slightly and the flavors come together.
Variations
Ingredients
Directions
Pound garlic with ½ teaspoon salt in a mortar until smooth.
Add mashed potatoes and continue to pound and stir with pestle.
Soak bread (crusts removed) in cold water and squeeze dry.
Add to potatoes and garlic, pounding and stirring until smooth.
Gradually add olive oil, lemon juice and vinegar, stirring vigorously.
When smooth and light, add salt and pepper to taste.
Chill in a covered bowl before using.
Serve with hot or cold seafoods and fried or boiled vegetables.
Variation: Replace bread with ½ cup ground almonds or walnuts, or use 1½ cups ground almonds or walnuts instead of the potatoes and bread.
Blender method: Put all ingredients in jar of blender and blend at moderate speed until ingredients are pulverised.
Increase speed for a few seconds until light and smooth.
Do not blend too long at high speed for the mixture heats and the oil separates.
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