Fighting for Homemade Mayonnaise's Rights

Required Eating

Posted by Erin Zimmer, April 23, 2008 at 3:00 PM

It's tough to explain my mayo hatred. I like eggs, lemon juice, salt and vinegar individually. I even love dijon, another key player in the pale-yellow creamy amalgam. But all together as one happy family? Ick.

I'm a "hold the mayo" kinda girl, but Nicole's photos over at Pinch My Salt make a pretty good case for the homemade version. She and Orangette, who wrote her Bon Appétit column this month on the ever-baffling condiment, have been all about whisking eggs to create their own Best Foods alternative. (Still skeptical on this end.)

Erin Zimmer is a new media analyst who frequently writes for Washingtonian, DCist, and other D.C. publications.

11 Comments | Tags: blogs, condiments, mayonnaise

11 Comments:

I was a "hold the mayo" kind of girl most of my life, but I was converted once I had homemade mayo on fresh asparagus. Mmmm, springtime. . .

I'm still not keen on mayo-slathered burgers and the like, but it has its place in the condiment realm.

unarata at 3:07PM on 04/23/08

I'm an "extra mayo" kind of guy. As long as it's REAL (not low-fat) mayo, i.e.Hellmans' (Best Foods west of the Rockies). I love it! Oh and by the way I have no idea what's in Miracle Whip but the taste comes close to toxic waste.

RichardCrystal at 3:12PM on 04/23/08

Mayo is gross. It will always be gross. It's just either home-made and gross, or store-bought and gross.

Seth Lavin at 3:22PM on 04/23/08

A distaste for mayo is lamentable and surely some kind of food phobia rather than a measure of taste. What about aioli? What would a BLT taste like without mayo? Chicken salad? Tuna salad? You must be mad!

tgardon at 3:38PM on 04/23/08

Homemade mayo is so different than store-bought, they shouldn't even be compared as like substances.

ErinSlick at 4:20PM on 04/23/08

I love them both. But the only store bought mayonnaise that I like is Best Foods (Hellman's). I tried some organic stuff from Trader Joe's last week and it made me gag. And light mayo?? No thanks. The homemade stuff is in a class all it's own. My new favorite thing is homemade mayo made with lemon juice with some fresh chopped cilantro stirred in. Sooooo good on veggies!

pinchmysalt at 4:36PM on 04/23/08

I used to despise mayonaise, but then I also though Miracle Whip was a type of mayo. Then I had some Japanese mayo, it's a whole different substance...

seadkdc at 5:02PM on 04/23/08

I'm allergic. I accidentally had some on a sandwich the other day: I ordered it without, started eating, noticed my sandwich tasted horrible, and realized what I thought was gooey cheese was mayo. Not fun.

Besides my allergy to it, I hate the way it tastes. How is it so popular?

pbisNOTmyname at 9:12PM on 04/23/08

Oh my gosh, I am right there with you. While I know what goes into mayo, I cannot tolerate it. I made some yesterday because I had extra egg yolks to use up. While I was beating the oil in, all was fine... but as soon as it actually became mayo, I was instantly turned off, and had to have a friend taste it to make sure it was okay.

Yet, I'm okay with aioli, and I know that it's basically the same thing but with garlic added. I don't know why.

kyrielle80 at 9:34PM on 04/23/08

I don't get the irrational fear of mayo. Homemade mayo, which in spite of its reputation is incredibly easy, is one of the most delicious substances there is! And its so versatile. One of my favorite uses for mayo (which is employed but many restaurants) is grilled cheese. Spread it on the outside of the sandwich instead of butter. Try it--you won't go back.

Joy Manning at 10:24AM on 04/24/08

*cracking up* Seth, I am absolutely with you. In high school I worked at a sandwich shop and we had to empty out these gigantic tubs of mayo into the containers we used on the line to make sandwiches...getting a whole bunch of it slathered on my hand one time almost put me over the edge. Urp.

emes1 at 4:10PM on 04/24/08

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