Aioli, My Love

Hello, my name is Anyonita and I am a mayonnaise lover.
If sauce & woman could wed, mayonnaise would be my groom.

You think I'm kidding. Such is my love for mayonnaise that I have never ventured to try it in any of the random ways it can be eaten. I've never mixed it with ketchup and dunked fries into the pink puddle the ensues. I've never had it with chillies thrown in, I've never had it with garlic ... until last night. I also had never made mayonnaise until last night.
Watching the first installment of Celebrity Masterchef the day before piqued my interest in garlic mayo or aioli. The contestants had to make tempura vegetables with garlic mayo dipping sauce. Knowing that there were two packs of prawns in my freezer and trying to come up with a use for them, I thought to make prawns and French fries with peas for dinner. Basically, a different kind of fish and chips. But prawns on their own, although I sprinkled paprika over them, would not have been very exciting. The solution? Garlic mayonnaise.


So I set to work, beating two egg yolks with a tablespoon of cider vinegar and a pinch of salt. With the mixer still on, I gradually added in the sunflower oil, a whole eight ounces of it. When that was near the consistency I wanted, I used a garlic mill (best invention ever! prevents garlic fingers!) and grated some finely diced garlic into the mix along with 1/2 a teaspoon of sugar and some more salt. I mixed until I reached my desired consistency.
It was amazing. The paprika prawns added a nice balance to the sweetness of the aioli. It's a simple meal, heating some shelled and already cooked prawns in a pan, dousing with paprika and serving with French fries, frozen peas and aioli dipping sauce. The entire meal took 20 minutes to cook, the time needed to cook the oven fries.
Yummy aioli, how have I lived without you?