Mayonnaise

Mastering the Art of French Cooking
Chapter Two: Sauces
The Mayonnaise Family

Mayonnaise, page 86

There were no particular motivators steering me towards making mayonnaise. It is, no less, a relatively simple sauce. However, what we Americans consume out of a jar or plastic container contains unpronounceable stabilizers and preservatives. But real, fresh mayonnaise will make you utter words and phrases not easily found in the dictionary.

Assembling the mayonnaise is easy. Egg yolks, lemon juice, mustard (wet or dry powder), salt and oil. I managed to break one of the yolks but even with an uneasy start, I quickly rebounded and got to whisking.

I followed the recipe to the letter, including the warming of the mixing bowl in hot water prior to adding the yolks. After whisking in, one teaspoon at a time, the oil (I chose a combination of 2 parts olive oil and 1 part vegetable oil) I began adding in a slow stream, thanks to the help of Mr. Tyson. It would seem it would be a long and laborious whisk, so I opted to transfer the bowl to my stand mixer. However, after streaming in several tablespoons of oil, I realized it wasn’t the best option. So, back to whisking by hand. And now, I can still feel the trembling of my right arm after the rigorous workout sure to bring pain in the morning.

And when I poured in the last addition of oil, I saw this.



Beautiful, shiny and full of flavor. It made for the perfect sauce / accompaniment to a cucumber sandwich on Kroger wheat bread. No salt, no pepper. Just bread (bland that it was) with cucumber and Julia's mayonnaise. Bliss.

With the leftover whites I plan to make meringues for New Years Eve. I'll fill them with something, but not sure what... yet.