Aioli Is Not Fancy Mayonnaise

On his tombstone, Chris Kimball has requested the following inscription, “My Three Rules to Cook By: Sharpen Your Knife. Stop Marinating. Use More Salt.” I plan to be cremated, but please put “Aioli Is NOT Fancy Mayo” on my urn.

I hate being a pedant (a lie) but something about the misuse of the term “aioli” turns me into one. The word has come to stand in for “fancy mayonnaise” on restaurant menus and social media content alike, I suspect because some people have a negative, knee-jerk reaction to the word “mayonnaise.”

But aioli is its own thing. It is simply an emulsion of oil and garlic—the etymology of the word is Occitan, from ai garlic + oli oil. You can get other things involved, like eggs, but it is not aioli without garlic (and oil). Garlic mayo can be called aioli, but aioli is not necessarily mayo. Our Tomato Aioli calls for oil, garlic, eggs and tomato paste, making it extra rich and savory; our Kimchi Aioli (and our plain Aioli) both start with mayonnaise—which is technically allowed, since mayo includes oil.

Semantics aside, I love aioli because I love dipping, and nothing dips better than a crispy potato. Our Salt and Vinegar Smashed Potatoes are served with a vinegar-spiked mayo (not aioli), but I think it would be just as good with the Tomato Aioli above.

Come to think of it, the Garlic-Spiced Roasted Potatoes would be pretty good with the Tomato Aioli, too. The wedges are flavored with a seasoning blend from the Svaneti region in mountainous northwestern Georgia, made with dried chilies, warm spices and ample garlic. The recipe yields about ½ cup Svanetian salt, which is enough for a few batches of potatoes, but you can sprinkle it on any roasted vegetables, or use it as a seasoning for chicken and lamb (or any meat, really).

Speaking of meat (and spice blends), my new favorite Milk Street meal is our Pork Souvlaki with Tzatziki and Tomato-Onion Salad. (I made it over the weekend to rave reviews.) “Souvlaki” often refers to meat cooked on skewers, but as Crete-born London chef Marianna Leivaditaki explains in her book, “Aegean,” in Crete, souvlaki is meat wrapped in pita. “Aegean” is also where we learned to incorporate fenugreek in our cooking. Its notes of mustard, fennel and maple bring an intriguing and unique flavor to any dish to which it’s added (fenugreek is a key ingredient in curry powder). Serve with the creamy, garlicky tzatziki and a juicy tomato-onion salad for tucking into the bread with the pork—it’s a perfect bite.

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Claire Lower

Claire Lower is the Digital Editor for Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street, with over a decade of experience as a food writer and recipe developer. Claire began writing about food (and drinks) during the blogging boom in the late 2000s, eventually leaving her job as a lab technician to pursue writing full-time. After freelancing for publications such as Serious Eats, Yahoo Food, xoJane and Cherry Bombe Magazine, she eventually landed at Lifehacker, where she served as the Senior Food Editor for nearly eight years. Claire lives in Portland, Oregon with a very friendly dog and very mean cat. When not in the kitchen (or at her laptop), you can find her deadlifting at the gym, fly fishing or trying to master figure drawing at her local art studio.