I have always been afraid of mayonnaise. I got this from my mother (hi mom!) who will openly admit that she spent part of her life afraid of refried beans and still stays away from hardboiled eggs, asparagus, canned tuna, … and mayonnaise. I kept this as a firmly held belief until about two months ago when I decided I was going to give homemade mayonnaise a shot. This was inspired by the book Lunch in Paris, which I highly recommend if you love food, cross-cultural relationships, or France.
You might have noticed that this post title doesn’t mention mayonnaise — because for those of us who fear (or hate) mayonnaise, aioli is a much more comfortable word, right? You see chipotle aioli on a menu and its fine. You see mayonnaise and you ask to have it left off your entree.
Okay, so we’re making mayonnaise (I can’t bring myself to call this “mayo” because its so much more luxurious than Miracle Whip) . If you grew up loving mayonnaise, this will blow your mind. If you are on Team Mayo-Is-Gross, this might blow your mind even more.
As always, a few things to note first:
Use the best eggs you can get. I typically keep a little 6 pack of organic, free-range eggs in the fridge for whipping up a quick mayonnaise.
You can use a few different types of oil but it’s important that it isn’t too heavily flavored; I use grapeseed, but you can also do this with a light EVOO or canola oil.
Supposedly there are days where the emulsion doesn’t take. This has only happened to me once and it was the time I tried to omit the Dijon (Daniel doesn’t love it), but it turns out even a smidge helps the whole thing come together. But if this happens to you, I suggest dumping it out, cleaning and drying the bowl very well, and trying again.
The single most important step that you will see below is to add a drop oil the oil before you add the rest to ensure that it takes. Do not miss this step!
Classic Mayonnaise
Ingredients
1 egg yolk
1 spoonful Dijon mustard
1/4 cup neutral oil (grapeseed, canola, light EVOO)
Salt & Pepper
To Make:
Place egg yolk and dijon in the bottom of a small bowl - you can adjust the amount of Dijon added based on your taste preference — I like a spoonful but Daniel likes less; I do not recommend omitting entirely as noted above. Whisk together and then season with salt and pepper.
Add a drop of oil and whisk together. Keep whisking and slowly begin to add the rest of oil in a thin stream. If you need to stop adding oil to combine for a moment, that is okay. Once the emulsion looks cohesive again, keep adding oil in a thin stream.
Once all of the oil is added, whisk until the consistency is thick but smooth and creamy.
Taste and season with additional salt and pepper to taste.
Can be served with literally anything. On sandwiches, to dip fries, or alongside chicken and roasted potatoes (my favorite).
So be bold and make some mayonnaise!