Many years ago I had an arguably irrational fear of other people's mayonnaise. If the jar didn't belong to me, I simply wasn't interested. At its core I think it's fair to say that I just did not trust other peoples mayo storing capabilities. How long had they had that jar of Hellmann's and how had it been kept? Was it approaching a sell by date? Basically was the jar full of disease?
This 'obsession' essentially prevented me from eating mayo anywhere other than at home. To a certain extent much hasn't changed since then, I still usually opt for ketchup and HP and I still have MAJOR issues with the tall tubs of the stuff that you find at cheap restaurants and take outs. Tubs of disease...why are they so white!?
These days I always make my own, it doesn't take long (unless your whisking by hand), tastes infinitely better and I know exactly how fresh the mayo is.
Here's a basic version:
2 egg yolks
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp of white wine vinegar
a few drops of Tabasco
a squeeze of lemon
a pinch of salt and pepper
olive oil
Bung everything into a food processor (or bowl if whisking), blitz, and very very gradually add the olive oil in a thin steady stream until you have reached a mayo like consistency, it's that easy. Add the zest of half a lemon and an extra squeeze to the above to make a mayo that is wicked with calamari.
Or, to make alioli just throw 3-4 cloves of raw garlic into the mix, a good tip is to remove the green stem by halving each clove length ways, this will take away the bitterness that raw garlic brings.
Quite fancy a fried egg now for some reason...
No comments:
Post a Comment