Herby Mayonnaise for the New Year
I’ve always wanted to make mayonnaise, but my lazy streak had always got the better of me. Deliciously decadent handmade mayo takes A LOT of beating to get right, and if your arm isn’t up to it your mayo will curdle before you can say Fatty Boombah.
I was thinking of mayo as I made a salad for our new years barbecue last night, and I had a bit of time up my sleeve and realised that there is a KitchenAid mixer taking pride of place in our kitchen now, so I don’t need to exhaust my biceps in the quest for the perfect mayonnaise anymore.
I started with three egg yolks, a pinch of salt and a couple of cloves of crushed garlic, and then gradually added in about 300ml of olive oil over the course of about 20 minutes. The KitchenAid did all the work really, I just had to make sure that the egg yolk and olive oil emulsified properly without curdling so I added the oil in very small amounts. Patience, when cooking, is definitely a virtue, and the kitchen is pretty much the only place in which I have the patience of a saint!
The mixture gradually became paler and whiter as it emulsified. Once all the oil was mixed in and accepted by the egg yolks I added some sugar and finely chopped parsley.
The results were drizzled all over my salad, and I still have leftovers in the fridge for sandwiches. Yum!
6 Responses to “ Herby Mayonnaise for the New Year”
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Kate says:
January 2nd, 2007 at 2:32 am
Mayo is one of those items that is so far superior when it is made fresh that it simply makes no sense to ever buy it in a jar.
Ever been to the Rockpool Bar and Grill in Melbourne? I am not sure where you are in relation, but I am in need of a guest blogger’s take on the restaurant for my Food and Wine 100 Tastes for 2007. (it’s item #87 on the list) If there is a chance you could cover a visit and then write about it for my site, it would be duly and heartily appreciated.
email me kate4797 at hotmail dot com, see my site for the original post too.
Joaquim says:
January 2nd, 2007 at 6:52 am
Hello! Feliz año nuevo!
Es genial leer que utilizas tanto tu nueva máquina de cocina para hacer cosas tan buenas!
Me gustaría estar allí para poder probarlas.
Guapa! Más que guapa!
Un millón de besos,
Quim
Cindy says:
January 2nd, 2007 at 12:14 pm
Oh yeah, I am a total convert to home-made mayo too! I made a few very successful batches during 2006 (in Melbourne), then a complete failure over Christmas in Cairns. The magic thickening just never happened.
Any idea whether temperature and/or humidity are an issue? The little blender definitely got hotter than my food processor usually does. Maybe I just wasn’t patient enough with the slow addition of oil…?
Lady Lunchalot says:
January 2nd, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Hi Cindy,
I’ve just read that humidity can affect mayo, and make it kind of greasy. And I also read that all ingredients should eb at room temperature, so don’t use eggs straight out of the fridge.
Or maybe your yolk/oil ratio was out of whack? I use 1 egg yolk for every 100ml of oil, and I drizzle it in verrrrry slowwwwly, a teaspoonful at a time, waiting until each teaspoon has been incorporated until I add the next one.
But even if it doesn’t thicken you could always rename it something like “Cindy’s Summer Salad Sauce” and no one would ever know that it was actually a failed batch of mayo. ; )
I also found some great hints for making mayo that might help next time you are up north.
Cindy says:
January 3rd, 2007 at 1:04 pm
Thanks for the link, LL! A few tips there that I’ll use in the future, especially the one about keeping things at room temperature. If all else fails, I’ll rename it next time, hehe.
neil says:
January 8th, 2007 at 9:11 am
One thing that helps keep mayo from the dreaded splits is to add a good, heaped teaspoon of top quality Dijon mustard before adding the oil. It really helps hold the emulsion together and doesn’t make the mayo taste mustardy either. Twenty minutes is a real long time to add the oil, I hand whisk mine and it usually takes two or three minutes at most, you’re definitely right about the speed of oil addition early on but once the mayo has thickened you can pour the oil pretty fast. While I’m blathering on, you could get away with only one egg yolk for that much oil.