Mayonnaise

Mayonnaise (pronounced MAY-uh-nayz) is a thick whitish condiment generally made of eggs, oil, vinegar, lemon, mustard, and seasonings. It has a thicker consistency than a sauce or dressing. It is an emulsion, which is a blend of liquids that are added slowly and then mixed rapidly to combine them. Egg yolks have lecithin, a fat emulsifier, which helps keep mayonnaise from separating. The history of the condiment is debated, with possible French or Spanish origins. Mayonnaise, or "mayo" for short, is used in a variety of dishes, such as egg salad and macaroni salad, and as a condiment on sandwiches. While many enjoy the condiment, just as many despise it.

History

Much debate surrounds the origin of mayonnaise and the word itself. Both the French and the Spanish claim that the condiment originated in their respective countries. In one version, mayonnaise was first created during the Seven Years' War in 1756. Louis-François-Armand de Vignerot du Plessis, duc de Richelieu, led the French forces to victory in Port Mahon, which was located on the Mediterranean island of Minorca in Spain. His chef, who was preparing a meal to celebrate the victory, discovered that he did not have any cream for his sauce. He improvised and used a mixture of olive oil and eggs instead. He called the mixture mahonnaise after Port Mahon. In the Spanish version of this story, the chef learned the sauce recipe called salsa mahonesa from the Catalan-speaking natives on Minorca.

A French chef doubted that the creation had come from Port Mahon. He instead believed that the oil and egg mixture was called bayonnaise for the French city of Bayonne, which was known for its ham. In modern times, bayonnaise refers to a mixture of mayonnaise and Espelette chili peppers.

The mixture was later called mayonnaise because of a printing error in a cookbook. Some thought the word mayonnaise came from the French words manier, meaning "to stir" or "to blend by hand," or moyeu, meaning "yolk." The famed French chef Marie-Antoine Carême substituted vegetable oil for olive oil in the recipe, which yielded a lighter version that eventually became popular throughout Europe, the United States, and the rest of the world in modern times.

Regardless of its origins, mayonnaise was popularized by the French. The words mayonnaise and magnonnaise began to appear in French recipes printed in German and British cookbooks during the early nineteenth century. French chefs who immigrated to other parts of the world brought the condiment with them. It reached the United States, appearing on the menu at Delmonico's in Manhattan, New York, in 1838.

Americans embraced mayonnaise, making creations such as mayo-laden potato, chicken, macaroni, egg, and tuna salads. It was used to disguise bad flavors or spoiled foods. Its binding ability made it a perfect accompaniment for sandwiches to hold the meat and bread together.

In the early 1900s, a German immigrant to New York City named Nina Hellman began to make the condiment for her husband's delicatessen. Richard Hellman used it on sandwiches and salads. Customers then began to request mayonnaise by itself, so he sold it in wooden butter boats. At first, the Hellmans had two versions. To tell them apart, Richard Hellman tied a blue ribbon around one of the containers. By 1912, more customers preferred the version with the blue ribbon, so he decided to manufacture and sell this mayonnaise. Many others rushed to make their own versions, and soon an array of mayonnaise brands could be found on the market. By the 1930s, however, the Hellman's brand dominated the mayonnaise market. It was later acquired by the West Coast brand Best Foods, Inc., which eventually became the American product giant Unilever. Hellman's remained one of the most popular mayonnaise brands into the twenty-first century, and its label still featured a blue ribbon.

Topic Today

While the origins of mayonnaise were debated in the past, the food itself has been the subject of debate into the twenty-first century. Some people love mayonnaise, while others hate it. Much of this love or hate is based on personal preferences, but health concerns over fat and cholesterol content and salmonella poisoning helped boost the anti-mayonnaise movement. However, health care practitioners stress that mayonnaise consumed in moderate quantities should cause no negative health effects.

Another love-hate relationship exists between mayonnaise and a similar product called salad dressing. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires all mayonnaise to contain eggs and at least 65 percent vegetable oil by weight to be considered real mayonnaise. Other brands, such as Kraft and Duke's, entered the mayonnaise market to compete with Hellman's. In 1933, Kraft released a product called Miracle Whip that was similar to mayonnaise. It contains basically the same ingredients as regular mayonnaise, but it has less oil. Its other ingredients and spices give it a sweet and tangy flavor. To avoid confusion with mayo, the company calls it "salad dressing." Its introduction set off a debate between those who prefer mayonnaise and those who would rather salad dressing.

The true definition of mayonnaise came into question in 2015 with the release of a vegan, plant-based substitute called Just Mayo from company Hampton Creek. The product does not contain eggs, which according to the FDA, is one of the required ingredients for a product to be considered mayonnaise. In addition, the product's packaging became an issue, since the FDA claimed that it was misleading to consumers who thought they were purchasing mayonnaise. The label featured an image of an egg and the latter part of its name in large letters. Other print, such as "egg-free," "cholesterol-free," and "gluten-free," was very small. The word vegan did not appear on the label. The company worked with the FDA and agreed to make its packaging less confusing to consumers. The new label included a clarification of the word just used in the name and listed the product as a "spread & dressing."

Bibliography

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