You will often see Aïoli as a lunchtime Plat du Jour (dish of the day) in restaurants on the French Riviera. In case you are too shy to ask what it is, its name comes from the Provençal language, a combination of the words for ‘garlic’ and ‘oil’. This dish has actually been around since Antiquity, but the addition of cod, mussels, eggs, and vegetables is more recent. It is a balanced, super healthy Mediterranean fish recipe but you have to love garlic! If you don’t, you could always ask for the mayonnaise to be on the side (la sauce à part, s’il vous plait) but you will not get the full experience.
A Healthy Mediterranean Fish Recipe
1Ingredients (for 6 people)
- 1,5 kg of cod
- 500 g of mussels
- 6 eggs
- 500 g of fresh green beans
- 6 new carrots
- 6 potatoes
- 1 cauliflower
- 3 small fennels
- 2 soup spoons of extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
2For the Aïoli (garlic mayonnaise)
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/2 litre Extra virgin olive oil
- 2 lemons
3For the Court-Bouillon
- 1 sliced carrot
- 1 sliced onion
- 1/2 lemon
- 2 litres of water
- 1/2 litre of white wine
- 1 bouquet garni
- Black peppercorns
- Salt
4Preparation
- Peel the garlic cloves, crushing them with a pestle in a mortar
- Add the egg yolk and salt
- Slowly pour the olive oil and mix with a wooden spoon
- After pouring 5cl, add a tea spoon of water and the lemon juice
- Keep mixing until you get a smooth consistency
- Next put the potatoes and carrots in 4L of salted boiling water and cook for 15 minutes.
- Wash and tail the string beans
- Peel the zucchini, leaving a zebra pattern by only removing half the skin, then cut them into cubes
- Cut the fennel bulbs in half
- Add the beans and zucchini to the other vegetables and cook for a further 10 minutes. Next drain all the vegetables.
- Next cook the cauliflower florets in salted boiling water for 15 minutes
- Cook the piece of cod in the court-bouillon (that you brought to the boil) and let simmer until fish is cooked through.
Serve the Aïoli by placing the fish in the middle of the dish, surrounded by the vegetables, the boiled eggs cut into slices and the mussels. Best to keep the sauce separate so your guests can take as much, or as little, as they wish.
