Mayonnaise is a very basic dressing. It was created by the French chef of the Duke de Richelieu while defeating the British at Port Mahon, Spain in 1756. There are certainly many sauces based on mayonnaise, as well as several variations of the sauce itself. Here we will show you how to make just the basic dressing: You won’t believe it tastes better than Hellmann’s.
The very basic knowledge you must have is how to create an emulsion, which is as simple as follows: Once all ingredients are in your food processor, use the lid of the processor–which has a very small hole–to add about two tablespoons of the oil, which happens slowly. If you don’t add the oil very slowly at first, emulsion won’t happen and you will have lost all your ingredients. Once emulsion has been created, which takes probably one minute, add the rest of the oil a bit faster, in about 30 seconds. Remove the mayonnaise from the food processor and lick the inside of it with the help of your fingers just to find out that you have just made the best mayonnaise there is in the world.
Another option is to manually whisk all ingredients together in a bowl with a whisk, then add about two tablespoons oil very slowly as you keep whisking to create emulsion. Once emulsion has been created, just go ahead and add the rest of the oil a bit faster, while you keep whisking. (I watched Melissa Clark from the New York Times do this and she acts as if she is having fun, but trust me, she isn’t. Whisking is very hard work and absolutely unnecessary in the kitchen: All you really need is to buy your appropriate tools.)
Yet, our favorite way to make the most delicious mayonnaise in the world is with an immersion blender: It takes one to two minutes and doesn’t make much mess in your kitchen. Just put all ingredients in the jar where you will keep the dressing, including all of the oil, and blend from the bottom of the jar going up, slowly.
Ingredients:
egg yolks, 2 large
Dijon mustard, 1 tbsp
lemon juice, 1 1/2 tbsp
kosher salt, 1/2 tsp
vegetable oil, 1 1/2 cups (soybean oil seems to make its taste closer to that of Hellmann’s)
This healthy, delicious, easy-to-make mayonnaise lasts in the fridge for approximately 7 days or longer, depending on your refrigerator. You will know when it has expired when the color begins to change; in our fridge it lasts 2 weeks or longer.
