A garlic and olive oil based sauce, accompanying our traditional dish of cod and boiled vegetables. Aļoli (a poor man's meal, a long time ago...) gathered the vegetables of the garden, more particularly: potatoes, carrots, green beans, as well as the smallest riches of the low court: the eggs.
Peel the cloves of garlic carefully, crush them in a mortar and add the yolk of one egg. Whisk the ingredients until you obtain a paste. Work the olive oil slowly into the sauce as you keep beating it, always in the same direction and with the same rhythm. Wait until the sauce becomes firm, and then carry on working olive oil into it (slowly, so as to avoid drowning it) until you have the desired quantity. Once finished the aļoli must be firm and shiny. If you plant the pestle in its middle, it should remain vertical. Season with salt and pepper.
Begin by preparing the cod: soak it for a whole day, changing the water at least four times. Poach it for 20 minutes in a pan of simmering water. Cook the vegetables either in water or by steaming them, and boil the eggs. Bone the cod and place it in a big dish. Peel the boiled eggs. Arrange the vegetables around the cod and serve the aļoli in the mortar (to give it that added feeling of authenticity!) You can also replace the cod by saumonette (small-spotted catshark), which is easier to prepare.
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