Mayo: Creamy dream or nightmare spread?

Mayonnaise seems easy to like. Mellow and compromising, it is binder and matchmaker in a sandwich. It brings glossy sumptuousness to such all-American foodstuffs as macaroni salad and tomato sandwiches. Spiked with garlic, it adds flavor and lubrication to a pile of French fries. In France, it is treated with an almost ceremonial seriousness: Just last week, the French Association to Safeguard Egg Mayonnaise hosted its [second annual]( world championships. (The judges sought a mayonnaise that was “homemade and undulating, blanketing all or most of the eggs, with a little extra to be mopped up with a slice of bread.”) This is solemn stuff. Of course, mayonnaise is also notoriously easy to dislike. If you’re a mayo hater, such egg-based ecstasies have likely already forced to you to click away. People who aren’t fans of condiments like mustard or ketchup simply avoid them. People who hate mayonnaise—they’ll let you know. The spread’s detractors say it is [sick-making and slimy]( with an oleaginous quality common to some of nature’s grisliest fluids: decay, sebum, animal fat. As a commercial product, it is frequently tasteless and greasy. It has an unfortunate ([and arguably undeserved]( association with the most toxic elements of white culture. Despite its bad rap, [the devil’s condiment]( is going nowhere. Its very versatility has made it a hotbed of innovation in recent years. Pasta salad, perhaps, has fallen from favor, but mayonnaise slops on in the guise of aioli, or Miracle Whip, or any number of other sriracha- or chipotle-inflected incarnations. Let’s dive in. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( Sponsored by [Quartz Obsession] Mayo June 11, 2019 Undressing the dressing --------------------------------------------------------------- Mayonnaise seems easy to like. Mellow and compromising, it is binder and matchmaker in a sandwich. It brings glossy sumptuousness to such all-American foodstuffs as macaroni salad and tomato sandwiches. Spiked with garlic, it adds flavor and lubrication to a pile of French fries. In France, it is treated with an almost ceremonial seriousness: Just last week, the French Association to Safeguard Egg Mayonnaise hosted its [second annual]( world championships. (The judges sought a mayonnaise that was “homemade and undulating, blanketing all or most of the eggs, with a little extra to be mopped up with a slice of bread.”) This is solemn stuff. Of course, mayonnaise is also notoriously easy to dislike. If you’re a mayo hater, such egg-based ecstasies have likely already forced to you to click away. People who aren’t fans of condiments like mustard or ketchup simply avoid them. People who hate mayonnaise—they’ll let you know. The spread’s detractors say it is [sick-making and slimy]( with an oleaginous quality common to some of nature’s grisliest fluids: decay, sebum, animal fat. As a commercial product, it is frequently tasteless and greasy. It has an unfortunate ([and arguably undeserved]( association with the most toxic elements of white culture. Despite its bad rap, [the devil’s condiment]( is going nowhere. Its very versatility has made it a hotbed of innovation in recent years. Pasta salad, perhaps, has fallen from favor, but mayonnaise slops on in the guise of aioli, or Miracle Whip, or any number of other sriracha- or chipotle-inflected incarnations. Let’s dive in. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( A new place to talk about the news --------------------------------------------------------------- We’re tired of all the shouting matches and echo chambers on social media. On the new Quartz app, we’ve gathered a community of curious thinkers and doers to have high-quality discussions about the most important stories each day. It’s like an ongoing conversation with CEOs like Richard Branson, Punit Renjen, Arianna Huffington, and many more. [Try the Quartz app]( By the digits [6.7%:]( Fall in sales of brand-name mayonnaise in the past five years [6.2%:]( Market share of healthier mayo-alternatives, up from 3.1% in 2012 [8:]( Pounds of mayo guzzled in 12 minutes by Ukrainian Oleg Zhornitskiy, setting the world record. (He used a spoon.) [80 million:]( Eggs used for mayonnaise production each year in the US [177 million:]( Gallons of mayonnaise consumed in the US each year. For reference, that’s nearly 270 Olympic swimming pools’ worth. Sponsored by David Yurman Better than a tie --------------------------------------------------------------- Father’s Day is June 16. Make it unforgettable with elevated takes on everyday essentials–like stackable David Yurman bracelets in a mix of materials.[Shop Father’s Day gifts]( Giphy explain it like i'm 5! The egg emulsion equation --------------------------------------------------------------- Mayonnaise is an emulsion: egg yolk, oil, and acid (vinegar or lemon juice) whipped into an unctuous, creamy spread. The early French celebrity chef Auguste Escoffier believed five “mother sauces” were the key to understanding French cuisine: béchamel, espagnole, velouté, hollandaise, and tomate. Mayo falls under the hollandaise category, which of course also includes hollandaise, made similar to mayo—by beating together egg, butter, lemon—but over a low heat. Other similar sauces include: Béarnaise: egg + butter + vinegar + herbs + heat Mousseline: hollandaise + whipped cream Au Vin Blanc: hollandaise + white wine + fish stock Some cold sauces take the standard mayonnaise formula and simply add a few extra bits. Tartar sauce: mayonnaise + onion + cucumber relish Big Mac secret sauce: mayonnaise + sweet pickle relish + vinegar + French dressing + onion + sugar Fry sauce: mayonnaise + ketchup Aioli: Garlic paste + egg yolk + lemon juice + mustard + olive oil Even self-professed mayo haters happily chow down on eggs Benedict, a Reuben sandwich, or even a Big Mac. This most controversial of condiments is surprisingly good at laying low. Giphy Brief history The spread of controversy --------------------------------------------------------------- [1756:]( According to popular lore, the French chef of the Duke de Richelieu invents mayonnaise for a victory feast at the Port Mahon (mahon-aisse.) Light on cream, he substitutes oil, producing a creamy, dairy-free emulsion. A competing account holds that the original recipe was [Spanish in origin](. [1907:]( American commercially produced mayonnaise is born, after a Philadelphia delicatessen owner called Schlorer adds preservatives to his wife’s mayo. [1922:]( Approximately 700 Alabama school children are reported “poisoned” by a cafeteria meal mixing “cooked ground beef, cabbage, celery, pickles and mayonnaise,” apparently resulting in a noxious “chemical action.” [1926:]( German-born Richard Hellmann trademarks Hellmann’s Blue Ribbon Mayonnaise, after experimenting with selling commercial mayo in first wooden, then glass, containers. [1933:]( Whip premieres at the Chicago World’s Fair, pitched as a tangier, Depression-friendly alternative. With less than 65% oil, it’s ineligible to be classified as “mayonnaise” by the FDA. [1934:]( The Académie Française and the country’s Federation of Cooks disagree vigorously about whether to define rémoulade as a “mayonnaise sauce.” (The Académie [stands its ground]( [1945:]( New York is gripped by a mayonnaise shortage after the government cuts manufacturers’ allotment of salad oil. [Late 1980s:]( A Honolulu writer launches the Worldwide I Hate Mayonnaise Club, the first of several organizations in a burgeoning anti-mayo movement. [1991:]( Kraft releases Miracle Whip Free, with no fat whatsoever. [2015:]( Just Mayo, a vegan, egg-free mayonnaise substitute, rattles egg producers, who call on the FDA to restrict its ability to market itself as “mayo.” [2018:]( A Scottish scoop shop begins selling highly upsetting Hellmanns-flavored ice-cream. Quotable “Mayonnaise is ketchup’s dark twin—loved by some, reviled by others, setting brother against brother wherever it is spread.” —Novelist [Gabriel Roth]( “Gentiles are people who eat mayonnaise for no reason.” —Self-professed [“honorary Jew”]( and comedian [Robin Williams]( “I’m gonna have pastrami on white bread, with mayonnaise, and tomatoes, and lettuce.” —Woody Allen character (and ultra-WASP) Annie Hall Have a friend who would enjoy our Obsession with Mayo? [ [Forward link to a friend](mailto:?subject=Thought you'd enjoy.&body=Read this Quartz Obsession email – to the email – Giphy Pop quiz Which of these people really likes mayonnaise? Rachael RayBarack ObamaTyra BanksJimmy Fallon Correct. Banks attempted (unsuccessfully) to convert Fallon to the temple of mayo in a 2011 show appearance. Incorrect. Hates it. If your inbox doesn’t support this quiz, find the solution at bottom of email. Fun fact! In the first six months after its 2008 release, Baconnaise (a “bacon-flavor mayonnaise-based product”) sold 40,000 jars—spiking to [over a million]( in a year after being endorsed by Oprah Winfrey. Perhaps counterintuitively, it is vegetarian and kosher. Watch this! It squelches, it bounches, it splats. This ingenious 75 seconds is an aural collage of many of the sounds one can make with a jar of Hellmann’s, layered on top of each other to make a surprisingly catchy little song. (The inspiration for the piece came from a SpongeBob SquarePants episode.) Some Stomp-worthy ingenuity in these squicks and rat-a-tats. million-dollar question Why is mayo so contentious? --------------------------------------------------------------- For such a straightforward spread, mayo has a complicated cultural legacy. It’s about more than personal taste—mayo represents a kind of emulsion, if you will, of bigger questions about authenticity, access, and who gets to decide [what’s delicious versus disgusting](. “Miracle Whip and commercial mayonnaise are almost exactly the same,” [Dave Stagner writes]( in italics, at Medium. His point is that the dichotomy between “fake, industrial” Miracle Whip and “authentic, wholesome” mayonnaise is a false one. Both are emulsions of the same ingredients—differing only “in proportions and trivial seasoning differences.” And yet, pop culture has a long history of flinging mayo, in all these forms, around as a comedic insult, [especially where race is concerned.]( Ultimately, as Stagner puts it, the issue comes down to “social class, not authenticity.” This might be because form meets function. Physically, it’s white, gelatinous, and arguably bland (if one is being kind, it’s “balanced”); one reason for its rise, [David Merritt Johns writes]( is that it is “terrific for disguising flaws in vegetables.” Another, he adds, is that “its superior binding capacity made it a natural for sandwiches.” Mmm, binding. Absorbed by the industrial food culture of midcentury America, used to mask flavors and glue bologna in between slices of fluffy white bread, the substance became associated with assimilation. “America in the 1950s was full of strivers like Mom, desperate to forget family legacies of latkes and boxties and bramboráky… you wore bowling shirts and blue jeans, and you slathered mayonnaise on everything,” [Sandy Hingston writes]( of her mother, the daughter of Lithuanian immigrants. As the culinary pendulum has swung back, mayo gets the blame, she argues, for having “literally whitewashed America’s immigrants into eating dull food.” DIY How to MYO mayonnaise --------------------------------------------------------------- Making mayonnaise yourself sounds like far more effort than it’s worth. In fact, it’s not difficult at all—and the finished product more than warrants a bit of elbow grease. For this, you’ll need about 1¼ cups of oil (something neutral—grapeseed, sunflower, or perhaps light olive), a single egg yolk, and a tablespoon each of dijon mustard and apple cider vinegar. Ideally, you want everything to be at room temperature, which may mean taking the eggs out of the fridge a half-hour before you begin. Put your egg yolk and a large pinch of salt in a mixing bowl, and start whisking. (You can use an electric mixer or balloon whisk, depending on what you’ve got to hand.) After about 30 seconds, add mustard, vinegar, and keep whisking. Now, very gradually add a few drops of oil the bowl. Keep adding, drop by drop, and whisking until it starts to thicken—then increase your drip to a trickle. Once you’ve incorporated all the oil, season to taste. Having mastered normal mayonnaise, feel free to start experimenting with adding grated garlic, substituting lemon juice for vinegar, or whatever else takes your fancy. Luxuriate in your accomplishment, and try not to think about all that oil. Giphy Poll Where do you stand in the great mayo debate? [Click here to vote]( I like it well enough.I hate it so much, even reading this email has been a stretch.It’s a condiment. Who cares? 💬let's talk! According to yesterday’s poll about [smellscapes]( 58% of you are most partial to the scent of fresh rain. 🤔 [What did you think of today’s email?](mailto:obsession%2Bfeedback@qz.com?cc=&subject=Thoughts%20about%20mayo&body=) 💡 [What should we obsess over next?](mailto:obsession%2Bideas@qz.com?cc=&subject=Obsess%20over%20this%20next.&body=) [🎲 Show me a random Obsession]( Today’s email was written by [Natasha Frost]( edited by [Jessanne Collins,]( and produced by [Luiz Romero.]( The correct answer to the quiz is Tyra Banks. Enjoying the Quartz Obsession? [Send this link]( to a friend! Want to advertise in the Quartz Obsession? Send us an email at ads@qz.com. Not enjoying it? No worries. 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