Mayonnaise is a very delicious basic sauce, which can wonderfully complement a multitude of dishes. We know it and we want to do it on multiple occasions, but why don't we always dare to try it? Surely when it has not been cut, it has been very thick or with a strange flavor. And then there is the fear of salmonellosis. Nobody said it was easy to get along with a sauce where the drops of oil have to go well with the egg, but when it is achieved, the pleasure is immense.
That's why we analyze the 10 mistakes we make the most when emulsifying the ingredients of the most popular sauce and we tell you the advice of experts like Paco Pérez (L'Eggs) so that the next one turns out great. Pure science. If you read us carefully you can forget about jarred mayonnaise and become the king or queen of homemade mayonnaise.
1. Not using quality products
The first thing that chef Paco Pérez comments when you ask him about how to make a good classic homemade mayonnaise is that the egg must be of quality, and the fresher the better, or a pasteurized egg to avoid the risk of salmonellosis, which we will discuss later.
The other basic component, the oil, does not matter if it is sunflower or olive. It is a matter of taste. If it is soft olive or sunflower, “the result will be more neutral than if it is made with a powerful extra virgin olive oil, with which we can obtain more nuances in the flavor,” says Pérez, who in addition to holding two Michelin stars In his restaurant Miramar, he loves the egg, and has made it the protagonist in his Barcelona restaurant L'Eggs.
From here, “we can play with a few drops of lemon and salt,” says the chef. If you prefer vinegar, Pérez admits that it can be very good, “for example a chardonnay wine vinegar.” And also a teaspoon of mustard.
2. Not knowing how to choose between making it with the whole egg or just the yolk
Although mayonnaise is traditionally made with the whole egg, it can also be made with just the yolk. If we opt for this route, “it will have a more pronounced egg taste and a very interesting creaminess and unctuousness,” say the Torres brothers in their book Cooking at Home with the Torres Brothers (RBA), and they add that the resulting emulsion is ideal for dressing, for example, a tartare.” Paco Pérez is also clear that mayonnaise made with yolks is “tastier, sweeter and more elegant.”
3. Do not have the products at room temperature
Neither cold nor hot, all ingredients should be at room temperature to accelerate “the transfer of emulsifiers from the yolk particles to the surfaces of the fat droplets,” says gourmet food chemistry Harold McGee in Cooking food (Debate).
In other words, in colloquial terms, to achieve the glue effect that will prevent the mayonnaise from breaking, it is essential that the components are tempered: “We have to take the eggs out of the refrigerator for a little while before making it, and also prevent the oil from being too cold.” cold,” says Pérez. Although it must be taken into account, as a health precaution, that the eggs should not be left without refrigeration for more than two hours.
4. Do not make it at home to avoid Salmonella
“Making mayonnaise at home is great because you are going to enjoy cooking something that you are going to eat later,” says Paco Pérez, who considers this sauce to be one of the most useful ones. But since we are going to work with raw eggs, the fear of salmonellosis sometimes paralyzes us. To begin with, we must discard dirty or broken eggs.
McGee notes that both vinegar and extra virgin olive oil kill bacteria, but “it is best to treat mayonnaise as a highly perishable food that should be served immediately or stored in the refrigerator.” To completely avoid the risk, it is best to use pasteurized eggs at home. In public establishments they are mandatory in all recipes that use raw eggs. “The fresh egg gives a more intense flavor, but the pasteurized egg will make an equally good mayonnaise,” recommends Pérez, who uses it in L'Eggs.
5. Calculate proportions any way
Proportions are another basic to avoid disaster. “The most common mistake is to use too much oil,” says Paco Pérez, who recommends using 1 60-gram egg (or two yolks) and about 160 ml of oil. Also 5 grams of lemon juice and 3 grams of salt. McGee advises in Cooking and Food that “a single yolk is capable of emulsifying a dozen cups of oil or more.”
The more oil you add, the thicker the sauce will be, and vice versa, the Torres brothers point out in their recipe book. But if we add too much, we make it difficult for the elements to emulsify and we can collapse the mayonnaise. Therefore, we must control the proportion of oil and water: “For each volume of oil, approximately one third of said volume must be put in the form of a combination of egg yolks, lemon juice, vinegar, water or some other liquid,” says McGee.
6. Taking risks with complex methods if you are a novice
According to Paco Pérez, for a person who is starting out in the world of mayonnaise, the best way to make it is to place the egg and drops of lemon in the blender (we left the mortar for the 20th century) and little by little “add oil.” of olive in the form of a thread so that everything, proteins, water and fats, is bound together, while you beat, raise and lower the device.”
Being careful with the oil is important to reduce the risk of cutting yourself. If you are already more expert, "you can introduce all the elements together (egg, lemon, salt and oil) and stir, from top to bottom, as if you were making an aioli."
7. Getting overwhelmed when mixing
You don't have to suffer, in the kitchen practice and tricks are important. Once the ingredients have been placed in the blender, the Torres brothers advise placing the arm of the device at the bottom of the glass.
Beat at minimum speed in the same position until it begins to emulsify. You have to raise and lower the mixer, at first very little, just 1 centimeter, and then increase the distance. When you reach the top of the glass “you can increase the speed and add more oil if necessary.” The chef at L’Eggs, who is right-handed, likes to beat counterclockwise out of habit and recommends it “because it works well.”
8. Throw in the towel if it cuts while we beat it
Panic out. Paco Pérez is a number one in the kitchen, and sometimes he cuts me off!, he says. So there is no need to despair because cut mayonnaise is not a bad product either. The fat in the oil has simply not bonded well with the water in the egg, and it can be recovered. Don't throw it away.
“It's about starting over by beating an egg at room temperature to which we will add the chopped mayonnaise little by little, making everything come together.” If, on the other hand, it is very thick and does not convince us, we can solve it by adding half or a teaspoon of warm water and stirring, says Pérez.
9. Leave it out of the refrigerator and take a while to consume it
It is worth insisting on this point. Homemade mayonnaise should be consumed within 24 hours “and if the egg is pasteurized within 48 hours,” says Paco Pérez. It should always be covered and served immediately or stored in the refrigerator. As it is full of oil, its emulsion is easily damaged if there is excess heat, cold or agitation. Harold McGee warns that some of the oil may have crystallized in refrigerated mayonnaise. In this case, you have to shake gently to re-emulsify it, perhaps adding a few drops of water.
10. Thinking that mayonnaise is a boring classic
For Paco Pérez, mayonnaise is a basic that brightens dishes as tasty as battered hake, but it is also a sauce open to multiple ingredients that will give it different tastes and aromas.
In the Torres brothers' recipe book we find, for example, tuna mayonnaise (with 50 grams of tuna preserved in olive oil, 1 egg, oil and salt) or pine nut mayonnaise with soy (1 egg, 1 tablespoon of sauce of soy, 1 tablespoon of pine nuts and olive oil). If the ingredient is liquid, it can be added directly taking into account the proportion of water in the product, and if it is dry (spices or aromatic herbs) they are added together with the egg so that they are hydrated with the water in the egg white.
