Make that 'toum', that yummy Lebanese garlic spread

Salam,

There is one Arabic restaurant in the neighbourhood that sells a variety of middle-east food. My favourite is their mixed grilled which contains 3 types of kebab from lamb, beef, and chicken. The mixed grill is served with wrap and fries. And what makes it so delicious is the garlic spread or dip or paste, whatever they call it, that came with the meal. The garlic spread is so smooth and creamy, and you can just eat it as it is. We use it as a dip to many things.

It was so delicious that I get addicted and craved it. For long I wanted to make it. But there will always be something that delays the project. So recently, with the Eid celebration, since it was a family feast, so I bought a lot of garlic. Most are young and still hard. I searched on the web for the recipe.

I studied from these sources:

1. Traditional Toum (Lebanese Garlic Sauce) Recipe 

2. Lebanese Garlic Sauce (Toum)

So I used:

1 cup of freshly peeled garlic.

3 cups of canola oil

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1 medium-size lemon)

1 tbs of salt

Method:

1. Using food processor, processed garlic with salt. Scrapping the side as much as you need to ensure all garlic is processed.

2. Once the garlic has turned slightly to paste, drizzle in 1/2 cup of oil. This is an important technique, do not pour but drizzle in, like a thin stream of oil.

3. After 1/2 cup of oil is in, add 1 tbs of lemon juice. 

4. Let the lemon juice incorporate then add another 1/2 cup of oil. Repeat the lemon juice-oil step until finish.

5. It takes about 15 minutes to complete the process until you get a creamy smooth texture like the picture below. 

Love it love it love it. 

But I think I need to make a little adjustment. I found the taste overpowering, so pungy, I think I have put more than enough garlic. Maybe I should try some of the tips given by this page Lebanese Garlic Sauce (Toum). And I need to reduce the salt, or change to kosher salt instead of white salt. Nonetheless, it was a success.

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yours truly,