Chef Isabel
Aceitunas Aliñadas Andaluzas
Andalucía's green olives are cracked just enough to drink in garlic, cumin, oregano and sherry vinegar, then left two days until the brine turns fragrant and every bite carries the aliño.
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Allioli de Codony
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Allioli de codony belongs to the Catalan Pyrenees: boiled quince, raw garlic, salt, and olive oil worked into a thick, fragrant sauce for grilled meat, sausages, bread, and the autumn table.
Sauces & Condiments
Spanish
Make Ahead
Comfort Food
Outdoor Dining
25 min
Active Time
30 min cook•1 hr 30 min total
YieldAbout 480g, 8 to 10 servings
Allioli de codony belongs to the Catalan Pyrenees, where autumn quince is boiled and worked with raw garlic, salt, and olive oil into a thick sauce for butifarra, lamb, boiled meats, potatoes, and bread. It isn't ordinary allioli with something sweet stirred through it. The quince forms the body of the sauce, softening the garlic without hiding it and leaving its own floral, slightly tart perfume behind.
The method that decides it is simple: drain the cooked quince until its surface is dry, cool it completely, then add the oil slowly. Quince carries plenty of pectin, so the sauce is more forgiving than a plain garlic-and-oil allioli, but waterlogged fruit or a hurried pour still leaves oil gathering around the edges. Pound each addition in before giving it the next. In my Margin, the warning beside this one is only three words: dry the quince.
If quince doesn't reach your market, use a firm reineta apple, or a tart Granny Smith at a pinch. The sauce will be softer, sharper, and less perfumed, and its proper name becomes allioli de poma, the neighbouring Catalan apple version. Don't use sweetened membrillo paste; that gives you quince preserve with raw garlic, which is as odd as it sounds. Pésalo, no lo adivines. Weigh it, add the oil patiently, and it comes together. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Allioli de codony belongs to the mountain and foothill comarques of Catalonia, particularly Pallars, Alt Urgell, Cerdanya, and Berguedà, where fragrant quinces ripen as the cold weather arrives. It forms part of an old family of Catalan fruit alliolis that also includes versions made with apple or pear, each served with grilled sausages, meat, potatoes, or bread. The older mortar preparation needs no egg because the cooked fruit supplies enough body to hold the garlic and olive oil together.
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Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
ripe yellow quince flesh
Quantity
350g
peeled, cored, and cut into 2cm pieces
cold water
Quantity
1 litre, or enough to cover by 2cm
garlic
Quantity
12g, about 3 medium cloves
peeled
fine sea salt
Quantity
4g, about 3/4 teaspoon
mild extra virgin olive oil, preferably Arbequina
Quantity
150ml
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| ripe yellow quince fleshpeeled, cored, and cut into 2cm pieces | 350g |
| cold water | 1 litre, or enough to cover by 2cm |
| garlicpeeled | 12g, about 3 medium cloves |
| fine sea salt | 4g, about 3/4 teaspoon |
| mild extra virgin olive oil, preferably Arbequina | 150ml |
Equipment Needed
- •Digital kitchen scale
- •Medium saucepan, about 2 litres
- •Fine-mesh sieve
- •Large mortar, at least 750ml, with pestle
- •Small measuring jug with pouring lip
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the quince
Rub away any fuzz, rinse the quinces, and cut them in half on a steady board. They are hard, so set each half cut-side down before trimming it further. Peel, remove every bit of the woody core, and weigh 350g of clean flesh. Cut it into even 2cm pieces so it cooks at the same rate.
- 2
Cook and dry
Put the quince in a medium saucepan and cover it with cold water by about 2cm. Bring to a boil, lower to a gentle simmer, and cook for 25 to 30 minutes. It is ready when a small knife slides through the thickest piece without grainy resistance, but the pieces have not collapsed. Drain in a sieve for 10 minutes, then return the quince to the empty warm pan over low heat for 60 to 90 seconds, shaking gently, until no surface water remains. Do not brown it. Spread it on a plate and cool completely.
Wet or warm quince makes a loose, greasy sauce. Drying and cooling it costs a few minutes and decides the texture. - 3
Pound the garlic
Put the garlic and salt in a large mortar. If a clove has a green shoot, split it and remove the shoot because it can taste harsh. Pound until the garlic becomes a smooth, sticky paste with no firm pieces. Add the cooled quince a few spoonfuls at a time, crushing and turning it into an even puree before adding more.
- 4
Work in the oil
Measure the oil into a jug with a pouring lip. Work in the first 30ml almost drop by drop, moving the pestle steadily until every addition disappears. Once the sauce looks uniform, add the remaining oil in a very thin thread, never faster than the quince can take it. The finished allioli should be pale quince-gold, glossy without looking greasy, and thick enough to hold the ridge left by the pestle.
If a bead of oil gathers at the edge, stop pouring. Pound until it disappears before continuing. More oil won't mend oil that has not yet been absorbed. - 5
Rest and serve
Taste and adjust the salt by a pinch if needed. Let the allioli rest for 15 minutes so the raw garlic settles into the quince, then serve at cool room temperature. It should spread generously rather than pour. Set it beside grilled butifarra, lamb, boiled potatoes, roasted vegetables, or thick country bread, tal como se hace allí.
Chef Tips
- •Buy quince in autumn, when the fruit is firm, fully yellow, and strongly floral at the stem. Green fruit lacks perfume. Brown marks beneath the skin can be trimmed away, but reject any quince with soft fermented patches.
- •Use mild extra virgin olive oil, preferably Arbequina. A very bitter or peppery oil fights the raw garlic and buries the quince. If Arbequina isn't available, use another mild, fruity extra virgin olive oil, not a neutral seed oil.
- •Sweetened membrillo paste is not a substitute for fresh quince. Its sugar and concentrated texture turn the sauce cloying, and no amount of garlic puts the balance back.
- •Without quince, a firm reineta apple is the Catalan kitchen's sensible alternative. Granny Smith works farther from Spain, though it produces a sharper, less fragrant allioli de poma rather than allioli de codony.
- •Serve this with grilled butifarra, lamb chops, boiled meat from a broth, roasted potatoes, or toast. Bring refrigerated allioli out 20 minutes before eating so the olive oil softens and the quince perfume returns.
Advance Preparation
- •The quince can be cooked, thoroughly drained, and refrigerated in a covered container up to 24 hours ahead. Let it lose its refrigerator chill before pounding so it accepts the oil evenly.
- •The finished allioli keeps for up to 3 days in the refrigerator with reusable wrap pressed against the surface. It contains fresh garlic and oil, so do not can it or store it at room temperature.
- •For outdoor dining, carry it in a chilled cooler and put out only what will be eaten. Return it to the cooler within 2 hours, or within 1 hour in very hot weather.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 53g)
Calories
160 calories
Total Fat
15 g
Saturated Fat
2 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
13 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
175 mg
Total Carbohydrates
6 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
5 g
Protein
0 g
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