French Provincial Cooking - Elizabeth David [71]
What, however, is more to the point than the origin of mayonnaise is the fact that it is one of the best and most useful sauces in existence, but because it is not cooked at all the making of it seems to represent to the uninitiated something in the nature of magic, or at least of a successful conjuring trick, although the mystery has been somewhat diminished by the advent of electric mixers and the fact that a beautiful thick mayonnaise can be produced from the liquidiser in a matter of a minute or two. But although I regard this machine with the utmost gratitude, since it is a mechanical kitchen-maid rather than a gadget, I do not care, unless I am in a great hurry, to let it deprive me of the pleasure and satisfaction to be obtained from sitting down quietly with bowl and spoon, eggs and oil, to the peaceful kitchen task of concocting the beautiful shining golden ointment which is mayonnaise.
(1) Proportions, to make it really easy, and for six plentiful helpings, are 3 egg yolks (although you can easily make do with 2 when you have a little experience) to about half a pint of olive oil. Half a teaspoon of salt, a few drops of tarragon or wine vinegar or the juice of half a lemon at most.
(2) If the oil has become congealed in cold weather, stand the bottle in a warm room to thaw very gradually and do not use it until it is once more quite limpid and clear. Frozen oil will curdle the sauce as sure as fate. But also it must not be too warm. In tropical climates the oil has to be cooled on ice before a mayonnaise is made.
(3) Stand the bowl in which the mayonnaise is to be made on a damp cloth or newspaper to prevent its sliding about. Use a wooden spoon for stirring.
(4) Whisk or stir the yolks pretty thoroughly before starting to add the oil, which is best poured out into a measuring jug, so that you can see just how much you are using.
(5) Add salt, then the oil, drop by drop at first, but with 3 yolks the drops can quickly be turned into a slow, thin stream. It is only, with this quantity of eggs, when about a third of the oil has gone in that the mayonnaise starts coming to life and acquiring its characteristic solidity. After this it should, if a spoonful is lifted up and dropped back into the bowl, fall from the spoon with a satisfying plop, and retain its shape, like a thick jelly.
(6) Add the vinegar from time to time from a dropper or a teaspoon, not straight from the bottle, or you risk ruining the whole thing by adding more than you intended.
(7) If it is more convenient to make the mayonnaise a day, or even two or three days beforehand, stir in at the very last 2 tablespoons of boiling water. The mayonnaise will then neither separate nor turn oily on the surface. Keep it in a cool place but not in the refrigerator.
(8) Groundnut oil (huile d’arachides) at about a third of the price is usually substituted for olive oil in such restaurants as do take the trouble to serve proper mayonnaise. Although, to me, nothing can replace the flavour and aroma of a genuine, mildly fruity olive oil (but not too strong, for in mayonnaise its flavour is accentuated), this is expensive and none too easy to obtain, so it should be said that a great many people both here and in the non-olive-growing parts of France prefer to use groundnut oil not only because of its cheapness but because they are not accustomed to the flavour