A creamy sauce made by emulsifying garlic and olive oil together, often with added egg yolk, popular in Mediterranean cuisine.
From Occitan 'aiòli,' from Occitan 'ai' (garlic) + 'òli' (oil). The word traveled from Provence in southern France to Spanish cuisine and eventually worldwide, with its roots in the Romance languages of southern France.
Aioli is technically just garlic and oil—the creamy version with egg yolk is actually 'mayonnaise with garlic,' but restaurants now use the term so loosely that 'garlic aioli' is redundant (it's like saying 'hot fire')! True Provençal aioli is emulsified by hand and has a pale, fluffy texture.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.