How I Turned Mayonnaise into Mayo
Mayo is the eggless version of this popular condiment – My method is simple, inexpensive, quick and stable…perfect to use in making a caesar salad dressing, coating a potato salad or making remoulade.
Mayonnaise is one of the most popular condiments used for a variety of culinary purposes, although most of us relate to it as a sandwich spread. It’s been around since the mid-1700’s, and there’s even some evidence suggesting an egg and oil emulsification existed when ancient Romans and Egyptians ruled the world. This tells me mayonnaise was always more than a sandwich spread…much more! In fact, Escoffier elevated mayonnaise to one of his most important cold sauce preparations when defining classical French cuisine.
But mayonnaise is also polarizing. There is a large community of mayonnaise-haters, who despise the mere suggestion of it in a sandwich, in a salad or as a dip. There is an equally large clan of mayonnaise-lovers, who seem perfectly content to devour it by the tub full. And now…there is an increasing population of those who want mayonnaise sans egg (called mayo by most because the US FDA decided real mayonnaise must have egg as an ingredient – I guess there was some lobbying involved).
Personally, I’m a mayonnaise-lover turned mayo-lover. I’m not terribly interested in the large number of vegan versions appearing on plant-based supermarket shelves. These condiments may come close to tasting like the real deal but I worry about the number of ingredients and additives used to make them. They’re also pretty damn expensive…and I don’t eat enough mayo to justify using up valuable refrigerator real estate. So, my quest to make my own version began – and I had a few rules: use a limited number of ingredients, make small amounts quickly, make it inexpensive to prepare and make it stable so I can use it in many ways.
Before veganizing any recipe, I always begin by understanding each ingredient and its role in the original version. This helps me grasp how to make adequate substitutions. So, my first step was recalling what I learned during my culinary education about the basics of making a mayonnaise – create an emulsion of oil suspended in a base composed of egg yolk, lemon juice or vinegar and add a bit of flavor and stability with mustard. The result should be dense…far too dense to pour. I also knew that a good mayonnaise could be up to 80% oil…and that’s a lot!
The critical ratio in making mayonnaise is the oil-water amounts. For every volume of oil added, about one third of that amount should be liquid. This was an important fact to consider because it ultimately told me the egg yolk was not at all important in making a mayonnaise…oops, mayo. The trick was getting the oil and liquid to emulsify into a dense condiment with a slight acidic taste…a veganizing task that seemed much easier.
I tried a few approaches involving aquafaba and tofu. Both were not as pleasing as I wanted. The aquafaba method wasn’t stable enough, used too much oil and probably wasn’t simple enough. The tofu method makes something more like a sour cream than a mayo – not bad, but it also left behind a sort of chalky aftertaste.
I ultimately landed on the idea of emulsifying soy milk, soy yogurt, lemon, mustard and oil to create a condiment that looks and tastes the part – it’s my mayonnaise double…and it plays the role perfectly.
My method uses a limited amount of easily-accessible ingredients – check. I can make small amounts of mayo in about 2 minutes – check. One serving costs me pennies instead of dollars (or whatever currency you’re using) – check. I use this mayo in many ways: in sandwiches, wraps, dips, salad sauces, quick sauces and dressings – check.
Best of all…I am thrilled to simply slather some mayo on very ripe sliced tomatoes and allow myself the time to lose a moment.
I enjoy receiving your feedback…so, please feel free to spark up a conversation about plant-based milk alternatives and your own experience. I’m personally interested in what you have to say, and I know other readers of VeganWeekly are also interested in opinions of like-minded followers.
Of course, sharing this newsletter with your friends, family and social media contacts also helps and sustains me… and who knows…maybe this newsletter could help others who crave valuable insights into the art of vegan cooking.