Garlic sauce facts for kids

Aioli with olives

Garlic sauce is a yummy sauce that uses garlic as its main ingredient. It can be strong in flavor, depending on how much garlic is used. Usually, the garlic is crushed or cut into tiny pieces. Simple garlic sauces mix garlic with things like oil, butter, or mayonnaise to make them smooth.

You can use garlic sauce to add flavor to lots of foods. Think about steak, fish, chicken, eggs, and veggies! It's also great as a condiment, which means something you add to food to make it taste better.

Different Kinds of Garlic Sauces

Agliata: An Ancient Italian Sauce

Fried cauliflower with agliata sauce (right)

Agliata is a tasty and strong garlic sauce from Italian cuisine. People use it to add flavor to grilled or boiled meats, fish, and vegetables. This sauce was first made in Ancient Rome. Today, it is still a popular part of the cuisine of Liguria in Italy. There's a similar sauce called Porrata, which uses leeks instead of garlic.

Aioli: Garlic and Oil

Aioli is a famous sauce from the Mediterranean region. It is made from garlic and olive oil. In some places, people add other ingredients like egg to make it smoother. The name "Aioli" means "garlic and oil" in languages like Catalan and Provençal. You'll find it often in the foods of Spain, France, and Italy, especially near the coast.

Filfil Chuma: A Spicy North African Dip

Filfil chuma is a special recipe from Libyan Jews in North Africa. It's made with sweet and hot pepper powder, lots of ground garlic, caraway, and cumin. People use it as a dipping sauce, like in Ethiopian food. It's also great for marinating meat or as a base for stews and other sauces.

Honey Garlic Sauce: Sweet and Savory

Chicken wings with honey garlic sauce

Honey garlic sauce is a sweet and sour sauce that tastes like a mix of honey and garlic. It's very popular in Canada. This sauce is often put on chicken wings, ribs, and other foods like meatballs.

Mojo: A Cuban Citrus and Garlic Mix

In Cuban cuisine, mojo is a name for any sauce made with garlic, olive oil (or pork fat), and citrus juice. They traditionally use bitter orange juice. It's commonly used to flavor the cassava root. It's also a popular marinade for roast pork. If it doesn't have oregano, it's called 'mojito' and is used for dipping plantain chips and fried cassava. For pork marinade, they mix bitter orange juice, garlic, oregano, cumin, and salt.

Mujdei: Romanian Garlic Sauce

Mujdei is a spicy sauce from Romanian cuisine. It's made by crushing garlic cloves into a paste. Then, salt, water, and vegetable oil (usually sunflower oil) are mixed in. Sometimes, sour cream is added too.

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  Mujdei

Skordalia: A Thick Greek Puree

Skordalia (in ramekin at center) with hummus, vegetables and pita

Skordalia is a thick puree or sauce from Greek cuisine. It's made by mixing crushed garlic with a base like mashed potatoes, walnuts, almonds, or soaked stale bread. Then, olive oil is beaten in to make it smooth. Vinegar is often added for extra flavor.

Ta'leya: Egyptian Fried Garlic Sauce

Ta'leya is a garlic sauce from Egyptian cuisine. It's made by frying garlic with Ghee (a type of clarified butter). Then, coriander and chili are added. This sauce is used to add flavor to dishes like bamia (okra stew) and koshary (a popular Egyptian dish).

Taratoor: An Ancient Mediterranean Sauce

Taratoor is a creamy garlic sauce found in Arabian Gulf and French cuisine. It's made of Tahini (sesame paste), lemon juice, and garlic. It's thought to be an older version of aioli. Peasants in the Greater Syrian region first made it. Later, it was brought to the Iberian Peninsula by Phoenicians and then by Arabs. From there, it traveled to Southern France. Taratoor is a very important part of the foods in Arab Gulf countries.

Tomato and Garlic Sauce

Tomato and Garlic sauce uses tomatoes as a main ingredient and is used in many different foods. In Italian cuisine, alla pizzaiola means a tomato and garlic sauce. This sauce is used on pizza, pasta, and meats.

Toum: A Thick Lebanese Garlic Dip

Toum is a very thick garlic sauce common in the Levant region. It contains crushed garlic, salt, olive oil or vegetable oil, and lemon juice. Traditionally, these ingredients are crushed together using a wooden mortar and pestle.

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  Toum

Sweet Chili Garlic Sauce: Southeast Asian Flavor

This sauce is made across Southeast Asia. It uses red chilies, garlic, vinegar, and sugar syrup as the main ingredients. Usually, a thickener like cornstarch is added to make it smooth.

Tzatziki: Greek Yogurt and Garlic

Tzatziki is a sauce that started in Greece. It's made from minced garlic, grated cucumbers, and yogurt. It's very popular, especially in the Balkans. In Bulgaria, it's called 'сух таратор', which means dried tarator, but it's not like the Arabic taratoor.

Simple Yogurt Garlic Sauce

You can make a very simple garlic sauce by adding crushed or minced garlic to Strained yogurt, mayonnaise, or sour cream. Lemon juice, salt, pepper, and herbs like dill can be added to give it even more flavor.

Images for kids

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  A commercial black bean garlic sauce

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  Chicken with a hot garlic sauce

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  Crackers and herring topped with a garlic sauce

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  Kibbeling with garlic sauce

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  Ishkembe soup with a side dish of garlic sauce and lemon

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  Vegetables in hot garlic sauce (top) with fried rice in India