[Leica] Re: Mayo

[lrzeitlin at optonline.net (Lawrence Zeitlin)]

On Dec 9, 2006, at 11:58 AM, Didier wrote:

> If there's something that Belgians can do really well, then it's  
> fries and mayo. What turns into junk food in the most other  
> countries (especially England and Germany), is a delicacy there.  
> Add a belgian beer and you have all you need to feel damn good...
> Didier
>
>
>> Now just wait a minute, Slobodan. The thing that's called mayo in the
>> US cannot be compared in any way with the mayonaise we make here with
>> our bare hands (and olive oil, fresh eggs, fresh lemon juice, a bit
>> of grainy mustard and some freshly grinded pepper and a pincch of
>> salt). Fries exactly the same thing: about 1 cm thick, dry and
>> crunchy at the outer side, and creamily smooth inside.
>> Few can resist this combination once they tasted the real thing.
>> ;-)
>> Philippe


At last a subject almost as dear to my heart as Leicas. Five years  
ago I occupied the Unilever Chair of Cross Cultural Research at the  
University of Wales. In addition to selling soap, Unilever is one of  
the biggest marketers of packaged food in the world. They own the  
Hellman brand of mayonnaise. One of our tasks was to determine world  
wide preferences in mayonnaise flavor. It soon became apparent the  
few people had ever tasted real mayo and preferred the packaged  
brands that they were familiar with. The main use of mayonnaise was  
as a binder to hold egg and tuna salad ingredients together. We  
experimented with testing real mayo against the bottled stuff but to  
no avail. The Hellmans brand won almost every contest. Was it better?  
Hell(man) no!

The sole silver lining of this experiment was that the Unilever cooks  
came up with an excellent formula for aioli mayonnaise that will blow  
away the taste buds of garlic lovers. It can be made in a blender  
too. Here it is:

6 large peeled cloves of garlic. If you really love garlic you can  
use more.
1 large egg
1 tsp. powdered mustard. I use Colemans but any good brand will do.
1 tsp. salt.
1 dash cayenne pepper.
3 tbs. fresh lemon juice.
1 cup virgin olive oil. The best brand you can afford.

Mix the garlic, egg, mustard, salt, pepper and 1/4 cup olive oil in a  
blender.
Blend until smooth. Usually a couple of minutes.
Drizzle in 1/2 cup olive oil and the lemon juice while blending at  
low speed.
As the mayonnaise thickens, drizzle in the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil.
By this time the mayonnaise is so thick that you have to use a rubber  
scraper to get it down to the blender blades.

Spoon into small jars to keep. For the best flavor, let it sit in the  
refrigerator for 24 hours before serving.
In covered jars (I use very small Mason jars or jelly jars) it will  
keep for two weeks when refrigerated.

Phillipe, try that on your fries for a real treat.

Larry Z