Bewildered and maybe even a little bit intrigued?

(The salt stops the garlic from slipping at the bottom of the mortar as you pound it down.)Add the lemon juice to the garlic.

Drop by drop, pour the olive oil into the mortar slowly as you continue to crush the paste with your pestle.Keep turning your pestle in a slow, continuous circular motion in the mortar.The drip needs to be slow and steady.

Make sure the paste soaks up the olive oil as you go.Keep adding the oil, drop by drop, until you have the consistency of a very thick mayonnaise.

If your allioli gets too dense, add water to thin it out.

This takes time — around 20 minutes of slow motion around the mortar — to create a dense, rich sauce..White and sparkling wines.

Dr. Fischer Steinbock Alcohol-Removed Sparkling ($19).Food & Wine / J. Hofstätter Wines.

An impressive sparkling.that could fool many people into thinking it was regular sparkling wine, this German multi-vintage blend has fresh, zippy flavors and a minerally end; serve it on its own or in an alcohol-free.