The valley notebook Cold sauce Milk alioli (lactonesa)

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Milk alioli (lactonesa)

The raw-egg-free version many bars prefer: milk, oil and garlic — snow-white, light and safe in the summer heat.

Cold sauce Spanish home cooking · common in Andalusian hospitality
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Milk alioli (lactonesa)

A recipe with a memory

Milk alioli — or lactonesa de ajo — swaps the egg for milk: a snow-white, light and creamy sauce, as mild or as punchy as you like depending on the garlic. Restaurants value it because it avoids raw egg.

Canal Sur's cooking show Cómetelo describes it as a mayonnaise made with milk and often pairs it with fish, squid, vegetables and tapas; the classic ratio is two parts oil to one part milk.

It is not exclusively Andalusian, but it neatly shows how home cooking evolves: the age-old garlic and oil stay, the rest adapts. Flavour it with parsley, lemon, paprika, roasted or black garlic.

  1. 01

    Pour the milk into a tall narrow jug with the garlic and salt.

  2. 02

    Gently add the oil.

  3. 03

    Blend with the stick blender resting on the bottom, without moving, for a few seconds.

  4. 04

    Lift the blender gradually as it thickens.

  5. 05

    Add the lemon or vinegar and blend a few seconds more.

Egg alioli Almond ajoblanco