Allioli - An international sauce with different labels.

Taking a quick look at some of the most commonly known sauces, we find a very interesting variation in the terminology of what we call “allioli”, being “alioli” or “garlic mayonnaise” in English, since it is composed of eggs, oil and garlic in its original recipe.

Although its origins are said to be in the Roman period, or even in the ancient Egypt, this simple recipe settled down in Catalonia, where it was expanded throughout the Mediterranean coasts becoming a typical accompainment for plenty of dishes.

But what is interesting about its name is that, every single person in southern or central regions of Spain calls this sauce “allioli” (which is a Catalan label meaning “alli i oli”, in English garlic and oil) whereas in Catalonia and the regions where Catalan is spoken, the label to name the recipe is “ajoaceite”, the same two words but in Spanish language.

But what has this peculiarity to do with English then? The answer is as the allioli, very simple. As you know English language tends to simplify and make new words by others which already exist, even taking them from another languages. It happens with many dishes and recipes, as the eggplant (explained in a post below), labeling them depending on their shape or their ingredients, but in the case of the allioli English has not committed the same mistake of the two regions said before. Although English has taken the word from the Catalan, turning it into “alioli” with just one “l”, the most common name for this sauce in England is more intelligent and exact than the Catalan or Spanish ones, since it refers to what exactly the alioli is (not only garlic and oil), that is, a kind of mayonnaise (another word taken from the French). More Exactly, the kind of mayonnaise made up of garlic, and that’s why, the clever English language labels this as garlic mayonnaise.