Mayonnaise and it's most popular derivatives

I love making mayonnaise. It is so different to the Kraft or Praise stuff that most of us know as Mayonnaise.

Mayonnaise is great to know how to make as well, as it is the base for so many sauces and dressings. Tartare sauce, Caesar Dressing and any number of personal twists can be done with mayonnaise. Easy examples of different mayonnaise flavours include Lime, Chilli, Wasabi, Sun-dried Tomato, Parsley... you can do anything you want with it really. With thing like Sun-Dried Tomatoes, consider using some of the oil from them in your mayonnaise to really boost the flavour.

There are a few things to think about with Mayonnaise. First, the oil that you use. It is perfectly fine to use vegetable oil for Mayonnaise. If you use something like Olive Oil, the taste of the Olive Oil will come through.

I use hot water as a stabiliser. It stops the mayonnaise from splitting.
Adding water also allows you to dictate how thick or runny your end mayonnaise will be.
If however, your mayonnaise does split - DON'T throw it out. All you need to do is start again, using a new egg yolk, and adding the split egg and oil mixture gradually to the new egg.

A stick mixer (ie a Bamix) is perfect for this job, but you can use a food processor, mixer or do it by hand with a whisk (!).


So, to the recipe:

To make 1 1/2 cups (approximately 400ml), you need:

4 egg yolks
2 Tablespoons Lemon juice OR vinegar
400ml plain oil (vegetable oil)
white pepper
salt
Boiling water
1 Tablespoon Dijon or Hot English Mustard (optional)


A jug would be good to do this in.


Place your egg yolks in the bowl of your food processor or jug. Add the mustard, Lemon juice or vinegar. Start the mixer/food processor/whisking. With the motor running, add a tiny amount of oil to the egg yolk mixture, and wait until you can't see it separate from the yolks. Then add a small amount, bit by bit, each time waiting until you can't see the oil as separate from the eggs. Once you have added about a quarter of the oil, you can start adding it in a steady stream. You should also start adding a spoonful or two of the boiling water at this stage.
Continue adding the oil until it has all emulsified with the egg yolk mixture.

Now, season for taste with salt and pepper. A good thing to bear in mind when doing this is what your mayonnaise is going with. Eg if you are using it plain, it may need more seasoning that if you are going on to make another dressing with it.

Derivatives of Mayonnaise:

Tartare Sauce:

To your mayonnaise, add finely chopped capers and gherkins

Caesar Salad Dressing:

Add Anchovies to your liking. You can do this by either chopping them up very finely and mixing them through or you could chop them up and process them, then mix them through the original mayonnaise. If you use anchovies in oil, you can also add some of the anchovy oil when adding the main amount of oil to the dressing.