By Ham El-Waylly
- Total Time
- 15 minutes, plus 15 minutes for the toum (optional)
- Rating
- 4(597)
- Notes
- Read community notes
When I was a teenager, I remember getting freshly baked akkawi cheese manakeesh with sides of cucumber and beet-stained turnip pickles and little plastic containers of toum for dipping at a Lebanese bakery in Doha, Qatar. Cheese manakeesh, a topped flatbread found throughout the Levant, is delicious with toum, a sauce made by combining garlic, lemon juice, salt and oil. This grilled cheese hits those notes, skipping a trip to the bakery. Slathering the bread with toum instead of butter instantly gives it garlic bread vibes. Though you can purchase toum at many supermarkets and Middle Eastern specialty stores, making it at home gives it a more vibrant punch. It lasts for months and can be used anywhere a tangy, garlicky wallop is needed. Use in salad dressings, as a rub on roasted meats, as a sandwich condiment, or even as a dip for crudités.
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Ingredients
Yield:1 sandwich, plus 1¾ cups toum
- 1medium head of garlic, peeled (about 12 cloves)
- 2tablespoons lemon juice (from 1 lemon), plus more to taste
- 2teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1½cups neutral oil, like grapeseed oil
- 2slices bread, preferably from a rustic loaf, no more than ½ inch thick
- 3slices Muenster cheese
- 4cornichons, thinly sliced lengthwise
- 2tablespoons toum (prepared or homemade), plus more for dipping
- Kosher salt
For the Homemade Toum (optional)
For the Sandwich
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Preparation
Step
1
Prepare the toum (or proceed to Step 4, if using store-bought toum): Place garlic, lemon juice, kosher salt and 1 tablespoon water in a tall, narrow container; blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Let sit for at least 10 minutes to mellow out some of the raw garlic’s bite.
Step
2
Dump the neutral oil on top, then lower the immersion blender to the bottom of the container. Turn the blender on, but don’t yet move it. Once the mixture starts emulsifying and thickening, slowly tilt the blender to introduce more oil to the mixture and very slowly pull the blender to the top of the mix. Plunge the blender up and down until the toum is fully emulsified and thick. (This streamlined toum recipe sacrifices fluffiness for ease by using a stick blender. If you want to make perfectly fluffy toum, prepare this recipe using a food processor.)
Step
3
Stir well and adjust the toum with more salt and lemon juice as needed. (The toum recipe makes about 1¾ cups.) Transfer to a container with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate, if not using immediately.
Step
4
Prepare the sandwich: Divide the cheese evenly between the two slices of bread, tearing one piece in half to split it. Shingle the cornichons in one even layer on one side. Carefully close the sandwich. Evenly spread 1 tablespoon of toum on one side of the sandwich.
Step
5
In a medium nonstick skillet, place the sandwich, toum-side down. Press the sandwich firmly with a spatula to compress. Cook over medium-low until lightly golden underneath, 5 to 6 minutes.
Step
6
Spread 1 tablespoon of toum on the top side of the bread, then flip the sandwich over and press firmly. Cook until bread is lightly golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes, then flip back over. Since toum is made of mostly garlic, it burns easily. Take your time, reducing the heat to low, flipping and pressing the sandwich often to ensure that the cheese melts evenly and the bread doesn’t burn, about 3 more minutes. Lightly season both sides with salt and serve immediately, with a side of toum for dipping.
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out of 5
597
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Cooking Notes
nycpeter
> Prepare the sandwich: Divide the cheese evenly between the two slices of bread, tearing one piece in half to split it.May i suggest you change this to, "tearing one slice in half"? I had to read this sentence three times before i realized "piece" was referring to piece of cheese; my initial assumption was that the bread was the antecedent!
Susan Ford, New Orleans (Happy Mardi Gras!)
Olive oil can get bitter when processed in a blender or food processor. I process the garlic with coarse kosher salt and a little lemon juice first, to tame the bite a bit, then alternate with vegetable oil, lemon juice, and ice water. Nice and fluffy.
Jacqueline
For a shortcut, if you are near a Trader Joe's they have a perfectly serviceable toum on the refrigerated section called Garlic Spread and Dip with the same ingredients.
Mark Mitchell
This, like many NYT recipes I've made verbatim, has problems. Too many times I've had to go back a second time and make significant adjustments to amounts and cooking times to get the proper result. In this case with the toum, DO NOT simply "dump the neutral oil on top." The recipe calls for far too much oil and you will get a watery result that never fully emulsifies. Drizzle the oil a little at a time until you get the proper aioli emulsification. Made this way, it's quite delightful.
KarenaCreates
I used olive oil, but probably only needed 3/4c.to get the right consistency; at 1.5c this turned into garlic oil, not toum. Still delicious though. Next time I will add the oil slowly as I go until getting the desired aioli-like texture of toum.
Orbis
I’m crazy about grilled cheesies, but toum puts it over the top. I’m definitely on this.
Cynthia
Trader Joe's sells a truly excellent toum (just labeled "Garlic Spread Dip" and stocked with the other refrigerated dips) that tastes fresh and homemade, if you want to skip to Step 4. I've relied on it for years.
st
I have made grilled cheeses with toum at my cheese shop and can confirm it definitely takes them to the next level.
Sara
So when I was taught to make toum, we would alternate a tiny bit of oil (think like with making mayo) with a spoonful of lemon juice. I'm really intrigued by the immersion blender method, though. I want to try it.
FitGirl
What you’re aiming for is a fluffy kinda mayonnaise like consistency. Anything that will help you get that consistency will work. The immersion blender here is a quicker way. A mini-processor probably won’t do the trick, well, I wouldn’t go that route.
SLF
Would be more clarity if the recipe specified to spread the toum lon the outside” of one slice of bread.My Lebanese friend instructed me to make this in a mortar and pestle and no the water. Also insists that it only be stirred in one direction with repeated addition of oil until it stops absorbing it. I was told a chopper/blender would make it bitter.This is a wonderful accompaniment to flank steak and as a base for vinaigrette made with lemon and olive oil and mint.
Don Hogle
As some suggested, I made this with 3/4 cup oil, adding a little bit at a time. I ended up with a nice frothy toum. Next time, I might reduce the salt to 1 tspn; for my taste -- I salt things only lightly -- it was a bit too much. I've used this not only for grilled cheese, but also as a spread for a turkey and swiss sandwich and in a spaghetti sauce. If you like garlic, it's a great, versatile condiment.
ScrarchCook
I bought Trader Joe’s Garlic Spread Dip & Sourdough Bread. Let cheese get to room temp. I add fresh tomato slices, pickles between thinly sliced Cheddar Cheese, Dijon inside of one bread slice, Garlic Spread on inside of other slice1st sandwich toasted very dark on first side down, flip side shortened time. Next sandwiches I lowered electric stove temp. Toasted beautifully on both sides. Cheese was perfectly melted onto tomato/pickles. Served with scratch tomato soup. Delicious!
sarah blair
Yep. Grilled cheese . And. No cornichons on hand so Americanized it more and used dill pickles. I mean, if it’s not authentic it’s not authentic. Toum is entirely a new notion in this house but will be used often!
BGees
I added some hot honey, and it was very good
CAN
Just had the best grilled cheese sandwich of my life. Made the toum exactly as written and came out with a beautiful fluffy and stable emulsion. The flavor punch! I am dipping everything into it. Thanks Ham for introducing me to my new favorite condiment. Going do Sohlas spatchco*cked chicken this weekend and offer up some toum for those that like to dip.
Omari Kirkland
If you don't have an immersion mixer it is easy to make toum in a food processor. Just slowly add in the oil. It is a lot easier and less awkward than the method described in the recipe.
B Dawson
Since I don’t care to have tons of electric devices on counters and in drawers, I’m always curious how these traditional recipes would have been prepared prior to our love of convenience. Mortar and pestle? Mash with a fork? Left chunkier than an immersion blender’s version?
dro
Toum means garlic in Arabic
kwych
This toum is now a go-to butter substitute for me for any savory use. I think you could use half the salt but otherwise I made this exactly as directed. I let the garlic, lemon juice and salt sit for a bit in glass first and used avocado oil which is much lower in saturated fat than many oils. It is so incredibly delicious (must love garlic!) and the recipe makes a LOT.
mcnerneym
Whuss toum? If I've never tasted, how do I know if it's sufficiently salty?
Lil Sal
Unlike everywhere else on the Internet, you should ALWAYS read the comments on a NYT recipe.Unfortunately...I didn't do that. I made the toum according to the directions and ended up with sad oily garlic.If you made the same mistake, here's what I recommend:1) grab another lemon, and another head of garlic2) start over, blending the garlic into a paste then alternating adding the juice of the other lemon and the garlic-oil a bit at a time (I did not add additional water or salt)3) profit
Omari Kirkland
Yours didn't come out right because the directions on the recipe say to add the oil all at once. It's easier to get the emulsion right if you add the oil slowly. It's also easier to do in a food processor then an immersion mixer
Match W.
This may have already been said but it is much easier to spread the toum on one side of each of the 2 slices of bread. Have your cheese and pickles ready. Place one piece of bread toum side down and immediately put the cheese and pickles on top. Then top with the second slice of bread make sure the toum side is up.
PSNick
I made the quick immersion-blended toum after 1st trying the NYT's "toum garlic whip" recipe suggested in Step 2. That came out perfect, but it takes a long time and now I have a big food processor to clean. The immersion method described here is certainly promising, though I think my impatience is what led to the dreaded "garlic oil soup" outcome. A slower addition of oil would be better. To fix it, I added a whole egg and it's good now, but more like garlic mayo. Nothing wrong with that!
Omari Kirkland
It's not more like Mayo it is Mayo at that point. Mayo is not necessarily toum. Just add the oil slowly and the emulsion will come out perfect every time.
ScrarchCook
I bought Trader Joe’s Garlic Spread Dip & Sourdough Bread. Let cheese get to room temp. I add fresh tomato slices, pickles between thinly sliced Cheddar Cheese, Dijon inside of one bread slice, Garlic Spread on inside of other slice1st sandwich toasted very dark on first side down, flip side shortened time. Next sandwiches I lowered electric stove temp. Toasted beautifully on both sides. Cheese was perfectly melted onto tomato/pickles. Served with scratch tomato soup. Delicious!
Don Hogle
As some suggested, I made this with 3/4 cup oil, adding a little bit at a time. I ended up with a nice frothy toum. Next time, I might reduce the salt to 1 tspn; for my taste -- I salt things only lightly -- it was a bit too much. I've used this not only for grilled cheese, but also as a spread for a turkey and swiss sandwich and in a spaghetti sauce. If you like garlic, it's a great, versatile condiment.
danielPDX
Prepare to be turned into a clove of garlic!!This was way to much garlic, and I love the stuff but NO. Could not eat. Maybe spread on one side and at that blended with some mayo. Ugh!
Jerry
I happened to make a grilled cheese with toum (from Costco) today before seeing this recipe. I used Gruyere and slathered the toum between the bread and the cheese. Delicious!
BRAD KUNHARDT
Or, Mayo or butter your bread slices on one side, sprinkle with garlic salt, then proceed in the usual way of making a grilled cheese.
Cynthia
Trader Joe's sells a truly excellent toum (just labeled "Garlic Spread Dip" and stocked with the other refrigerated dips) that tastes fresh and homemade, if you want to skip to Step 4. I've relied on it for years.
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