For my next attempt at French cooking, I decided to go even more complicated. I Internet searched myself over to this mayonnaise recipe from Alton Brown.
It got a bit tricky right off: I couldn't find white wine vinegar. We had red wine vinegar. We didn't have safflower or corn oil. We had olive oil. I've seen recipes that use both of these ingredients, so I didn't think the switch would matter much.
We also didn't have dry mustard or mustard seed, so I decided to use a touch of our (spicy!) Dijon, which was also the flavor of the tub of mayonnaise we got from the store. I got my ingredients ready. While Joe finished eating the lemon I had juiced, I set to work.
I don't have measuring cups. "Pinches" & "cups" are measured in palm fulls & "well-that-looks-good's." Things seemed to be going well. My oil was mixing right in with the egg yolk. Everything looked happy & golden. I was happy & golden. I remembered to use a glass bowl. My egg was room temperature.
Things were getting thick, & I was honestly thinking to myself, "I really don't get why people complain so much about emulsions. This is cake!"
Then I lifted the whisk. A bit runny, but not bad for a first attempt. I'm thinking that my cup of oil was more than a cup, and since each egg yolk can only handle 3/4 of a cup before things go wishy-washy*, I shouldn't have been surprised.
Then I tasted it.
During my sophomore year of college, I did a liver cleanse. After five days of fasting, you sat in your room–hopefully along & near a bathroom–and drank a few glasses of Epsom salt water. This was chased with fresh squeezed grapefruit juice mixed with 1/2 a cup of olive oil. I have never tasted such a vile, burning flavor.
I was expecting that creamy, fresh egg taste–the full flavor of real mayonnaise. Instead, I held the bitter flavor on my tongue & had flashbacks to that last night of the liver cleanse (which I spent being sick). I'm thinking this is due to the "measurements" of vinegar AND lemon juice. As it sits on the kitchen table, the vinegar-lemon flavor has gotten less. Perhaps another pinch of sugar when I put away will cut down on the rest of the acidity.
Julia Child recommends using vineger or lemon juice. She also says that after a few times, you should whip up mayonnaise in less than 10 minutes–no problem & no Epsom-grapefruit flavor. Thanks for your confidence, Julia. Next time, I think I'll stick with your recipe.
3 comments:
We have used both recipes and certainly prefer Julia's; and soon enough you will have some measuring cups and spoons coming your way! And in our experience, runnier mayo usually means that not enough oil was added, which could also explain the strong flavor. Good luck on your next experiment, it only gets easier!
thanks, lauren. my solution was to add an egg yolk & a dash of sugar. it's thicker, but i haven't tasted it yet. i just whisked it to oblivion.
My goodness, do I remember you doing that cleanse (which I was supposed to do with you before I became sick myself). I still had that sandwich bag of Epsom you gave me when I was packing up my kitchen to move in with you.
Bonne chance with your next experiment!
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