I wasn't at all shocked by Hellman's runaway win in our Great Mayo Debate survey earlier this week. But I was surprised by how many people voted for 'Yuck!'. I know mayo can be polarizing, but I didn't realize that so many people find it revolting. I wondered if it had to do with the raw egg, which then reminded me of an egg-free mayo recipe I'd recently seen on the web. So off I went to investigate…
The recipe came from the website Food52, Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs' wonderful web project/recipe contest. Ms. Hesser had tasted this sauce in Spain several years ago, but recently just discovered the recipe in David Leite's The New Portuguese Table and decided to give it a try. She was quite happy with the results, describing the sauce as being 'like a glossy Italian meringue that tasted like olive-oil-whipped cream.'
Mayonnaise is basically an oil-in-water emulsion that is stabilized by egg yolks, which contain lecithin (a natural emulsifier.) In this recipe, the egg is omitted and replaced by whole milk. I don't know the science here, but perhaps the lecithin in milk acts in a similar way to the lecithin in the egg yolk.
The recipe is simple but requires a blender (see note below.) A mixture of whole milk, fresh garlic, lemon juice and freshly ground pepper is whirled for a few seconds until it becomes frothy. Then the oil, in this case vegetable oil or a mix of veg and olive oil, is slowly dribbled in, just like regular mayonnaise, until the mixture become silky and thick.
The resulting sauce is indeed amazing. The texture is smooth and billowy, a light, cloud-like poof that mounded on my spoon. It's not as thick and sticky as mayo, but it does work in binding ingredients together for tuna or chicken salad, although I would be cautious about adding anything too wet or water producing.
The taste will be very dependent on the kind of oil you use and the quality of your garlic. You may want to steer away from the hot, bitterish olive oils in favor of the mellower, grassy ones. And be sure your garlic is fresh. I used a very small clove and to my palate, it was almost too much.
Note: I strongly advise using a blender for this recipe. I used my trusty immersion blender and suspect that I wouldn't have succeeded without it.
The Recipe: Maionese de Leite from Food52
The Result: Highly Recommended!
Related: She Taught Me About Mayonnaise and That's No Small Thing
(Images: Dana Velden)
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I must have missed the mayo poll. Must say Hellman's is not my personal fave, but "yuck"? I don't think so. Yuck is Kraft, for sure.
Mayo is yuck because it's disgusting. Raw egg isn't a factor (you can't have proper chocolate mousse without it!)
My problem with mayo is the texture and the oily mouth-feel. Though I did accidentally have mayo in a sandwich at a restaurant and it was pretty good, but I think that the restaurant made their own. Mayo-from-a-jar is just gross - almost as bad as sour cream!
i'm really against mayo, miracle whip, and sour cream so you'd think that it has to be a texture thing but i love whipped cream. i guess it's just that i'm not a condiment person.
I find all mayo and mayo like spreads "yucky". It's not the egg, it the fat and mouth feel.
I wish I could learn to dislike foods and spreads for the fat.
I don't like a mouthful of mayo by itself, but I do like it on sandwiches or fries. I grew up in a 2nd generation Russian/Croatian household, and those old eastern Europeans love the mayo. Or at least the families I knew did. I have been known to stir in a little with my spaghetti (if I'm using a jarred sauce--it cuts the acidity and makes it creamy) or borsch, though I've abandoned most of the uses I grew up with (on broccoli or lime jello anyone?).
The milk version might be good for fry-dipping.
I knew cilantro was divisive. Mayo, too? Do you all forego tuna fish sandwiches?
Homemade mayo is best, but I really like the mayo here in Europe that comes in tubes. The brand we buy most often is Thomy; in France, you get versions that are much more yellow than the norm in North America, with a very strong Dijon mustard base. They are actually very good.
Raw egg - shmaw megg! Helmann's is soooooo much tastier than Miracle Whip!
Even the thought of MW makes my stomach turn. Yuck!
Thanks for this! We're a mayo-loving but egg allergic house. This is a great substitute to keep in mind. x
As a kid I really did enjoy white bread and Miracle Whip sandwiches. Now I need to avoid all egg yolks. So I highly recommend eHow's recipe for vegan mayonnaise using tofu and olive oil. It's simple, really good, and keeps many days in the fridge in a covered container: http://www.ehow.com/how_2135384_make-vegan-mayonnaise.html
Lovely Velocity: I have tuna salad every day at luck and think mayo of any kind is disgusting. I bind my tuna salad with thick yogurt and love it.