A good egg makes a good aioli.

Aioli made with the best eggs ever..

The night we got back from our trip to Rome we were so tired and our fridge was as empty as it had ever been so we just ordered Indian take out. You know how the Brits like their curries.
But the next night, after a trip to the grocery store to restock, I cooked up a veritable feast. A roasted chicken, some roasted vegetables, some toasted bread crumb salsa from the Zuni cookbook and just for good measure a side of Alice Waters' aioli.

Now let me tell you.
That was some kind of meal.
Maybe it was just the relief of being home, and of having all that wedding madness over with. Maybe.
Or maybe it was just that it tasted so so good.

It was my first time making aioli and I have to admit I did curse a little bit when it did not turn into aioli on my first try. So I grabbed another egg yolk and slowly added my failed batch and lo and behold it started to emulsify. I now know that the key is to add the oil much slower than you may be tempted to. I'm sure that Confuscious once said: "She who rushes the aioli will be disappointed."
Or something like that.

And I swear this aioli was made better by the eggs that I have been completely devoted to for many months now-- they're eggs from rare breed hens which graze outdoors and lay only about 2 or 3 eggs a week. They're produced by Clarence Court and are available at Waitrose. And if you've got nothing better to do on a saturday night you can even watch the hens in action.

I love these eggs-- the yolks are so perky and vibrant--orange almost, and I just think it's so darn cute that they only lay a few eggs a week. Perhaps they're trying to tell us that a good egg can't be rushed.
And I can't say I disagree.



Alice Waters' Aioli recipe
A straightforward recipe, and if it doesn't work the first time there is a fix. Thank god for that.

Clarence Court
the best eggs ever.