With the news that garlic consumption is declining in France, I feel we should ensure that “the stinking rose” and its health benefits have a secure place in our diets.

With that in mind, today’s recipe is for the Greek skordalia, which is essentially garlic (skordo) mashed potatoes. It’s like mash that has died and gone to Heaven, transformed into a smooth, lush purée with a mellow garlicky bite.

To make it in the traditional manner, pound a handful of garlic cloves in a mortar until smooth, adding freshly mashed potatoes and/or stale bread soaked in water and squeezed dry.

More pounding ensues. Then olive oil is added gradually as you continue to pound and stir. The skordalia is finished with vinegar or lemon juice, salt and pepper, and served with strong-flavoured fish such as tuna, as well as rabbit, game, aubergine and artichokes. There are more variations than there are Greek islands, some replacing the bread with almonds or walnuts, other more modern variations playing with vegetables other than potato, as here. If you’re a garlic-lover, you might like to use more than the three cloves specified. If you are French, perhaps not.

Theodore Kyriakou of the Real Greek restaurant in London EC1 calls skordalia “super-aioli” and suggests adding 100g of ground almonds to the final mix, as they do in one particular part of Greece.

What you need

Serves 4

Prep 20 min
Cook 30 min

600g pumpkin or butternut squash
2 thick slices stale bread
100ml milk
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp vinegar
Sea salt and pepper
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 tuna steaks
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp coriander leaves

METHOD

Peel the pumpkin and chop roughly. Cook in simmering salted water until tender, then drain. Cut the crusts off the bread and soak the bread in the milk.

In a food processor, combine the pumpkin, bread and milk, garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, sea salt and pepper, and whiz until smooth.

With the motor running, slowly pour in the olive oil until smooth and light, and keep warm. Brush the tuna steaks with 1 tbsp olive oil and grill or sear quickly on both sides in a hot pan, leaving the inside pink. Season well. Spoon the skordalia on to four warm dinner plates, scatter with parsley and serve with the tuna.

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