[0 - 1] - From what I understand, most people,
[1 - 3] even true mayonnaise fans,
[3 - 5] can struggle with the mayo texture
[5 - 7] as the volume of mayo increases.
[7 - 9] Like a smear on a sandwich is great,
[9 - 11] but a pickup truck full of mayonnaise is gross.
[11 - 12] Am I getting that right?
[12 - 14] Yeah, that's not true for me,
[14 - 17] because my motto is time is money, money is power,
[17 - 19] power is mayonnaise, and mayonnaise is knowledge.
[23 - 25] Okay, before we dig into how to make and use
[25 - 27] and appreciate the beautiful sauce
[27 - 30] and/or condiment that is mayonnaise,
[30 - 32] we need to do a little bit of discombobulation
[32 - 34] of the words mayonnaise and aioli.
[34 - 35] Somewhere along the line,
[35 - 37] folks decided that the name mayonnaise
[37 - 39] wasn't cool enough to be put on menus,
[39 - 41] so instead of mayonnaise, they would write aioli.
[41 - 44] Aioli is a beautiful word, I'll give you that,
[44 - 46] but it's a beautiful word that has an actual meaning,
[46 - 48] and that meaning isn't exactly mayonnaise.
[48 - 50] The purest original version of aioli
[50 - 53] is an emulsion of garlic and olive oil
[53 - 54] with some salt for seasoning.
[54 - 57] It's made by slowly emulsifying oil into a garlic puree
[57 - 58] in a mortar and pestle.
[58 - 60] It's intense and wonderful,
[60 - 62] and I think it deserves to keep its name.
[62 - 65] I often hear people say that they don't like mayonnaise
[65 - 67] but they like aioli, and I think what they really mean is,
[67 - 70] "Hi, I'm Fred and I like flavored mayonnaise."
[70 - 72] Well, Fred, me too,
[72 - 74] and we're gonna make some seriously amazing flavored mayos.
[74 - 76] But first I wanna talk about brands
[76 - 78] because when it comes to mayonnaise,
[78 - 80] people have brand preferences.
[80 - 83] Is Hellman's the best? Duke's, Kewpie, Cains?
[83 - 84] What about Miracle Whip?
[84 - 86] I grew up in a Hellman's household,
[86 - 89] that would be Best Foods if you grew up west of the Rockies,
[89 - 90] and it just tastes right to me.
[90 - 93] I thought I'd never want another mayo in my fridge.
[93 - 97] But then I tried Duke's and I love it too.
[97 - 100] A little less tang, a little more plush. And Kewpie?
[100 - 102] Well, of course I have to have Kewpie on hand.
[102 - 105] That MSG umami punch and weirdly squishy bottle, love it.
[105 - 108] I'm really curious where your allegiances lie,
[108 - 110] so in the comments, let me know what you love
[110 - 111] and maybe even where you grew up,
[111 - 113] and let's try and keep it civil down there.
[113 - 114] And while you're down there
[114 - 116] in the nether regions of this video,
[116 - 118] hit like, subscribe, and that little bell
[118 - 120] so you never miss one of my episodes.
[120 - 122] Store bought mayonnaise is amazing.
[122 - 125] Don't let anyone ever shame you for using it.
[125 - 127] But homemade is also incredibly special.
[127 - 129] It's customizable and it's easy.
[129 - 132] It all starts with a little sweet emulsion science.
[132 - 135] If you take only one thing away from this video,
[135 - 136] I hope it is this:
[136 - 140] emulsions are amazing because emulsions equal creamy.
[140 - 143] Milk, whether it's cow or plant-based, is an emulsion.
[143 - 144] Cream is an emulsion.
[144 - 146] Butter is an emulsion.
[146 - 149] Ice cream is an emulsion, and mayonnaise is an emulsion.
[149 - 152] We take liquid oil, which is thin, slick, greasy,
[152 - 154] and turn it semi-solid and creamy.
[154 - 157] It may as well be magic, but of course it's not.
[157 - 158] If you were to zoom in
[158 - 160] on a dense emulsion such as mayonnaise,
[160 - 162] you would see tons of tiny oil droplets
[162 - 165] tightly packed together but not actually touching.
[165 - 166] Keeping those droplets separate
[166 - 168] is the key to a stable emulsion,
[168 - 170] but it's a fragile business
[170 - 172] because the droplets are attracted to one another,
[172 - 175] and if they merge, the emulsion fails.
[175 - 177] And that's why emulsions contain emulsifiers.
[177 - 179] In mayonnaise, these are the the lecithin in egg yolks
[179 - 182] and the polysaccharides found in mustard
[182 - 185] which form thin barriers around each oil droplet
[185 - 186] so that they can coexist
[186 - 189] without coalescing into greasy pools.
[189 - 190] As you crowd more oil droplets
[190 - 193] into the small amount of water found in the mayonnaise,
[193 - 195] it becomes thicker because it makes it increasingly harder
[195 - 198] for the liquid surrounding the droplets to flow.
[198 - 200] Here's an analogy I learned from Cook's Illustrated
[200 - 203] senior science research editor Paul Adams,
[203 - 205] and it really paints a clear picture for me.
[205 - 208] Think of the water in a mayonnaise as a group of bikers,
[208 - 209] like in the Tour de France.
[209 - 211] As a group they move and flow rapidly.
[211 - 216] Now think of the oil droplets as elephants. Yeah, elephants.
[216 - 219] If we add just a few elephants amongst the group of bikers,
[219 - 221] the bikers are going to slow down
[221 - 223] as these big, beautiful animals get in their way.
[223 - 224] But they can keep moving.
[224 - 225] That is a vinegarette.
[225 - 228] But let's say we added a lot more elephants.
[228 - 231] At some point, they disrupt the flow of bikers so much
[231 - 232] that they can no longer keep moving.
[232 - 235] That elephant loaded bike race is mayonnaise.
[235 - 237] The key to making a stable emulsion
[237 - 238] is to break the oil into tiny droplets
[238 - 240] and have emulsifiers in place
[240 - 242] that will surround those droplets.
[242 - 245] Lecithin molecules have a phosphate head end
[245 - 246] that's soluble IN water
[246 - 249] linked to two fatty acid tails that are soluble in fat.
[249 - 251] In mayo, the water-loving heads
[251 - 253] line up on the exterior of oil droplets,
[253 - 255] while their little tails jut into the oil.
[255 - 257] They are ready and waiting to do their job.
[257 - 260] You just need to serve them up tiny oil droplets.
[260 - 263] Let's go to the kitchen and learn how to do just that.
[263 - 265] I first learned how to make mayonnaise using a whisk.
[265 - 268] Now, if I'm somewhere without access to any heavy machinery,
[268 - 269] I'll still do that.
[269 - 272] The challenges of making mayo by hand are twofold.
[272 - 274] You must pour the oil in slowly with one hand
[274 - 276] while whisking vigorously with the other
[276 - 278] so that enough of the oil
[278 - 280] gets broken into properly small droplets.
[280 - 282] Mess up either one of those
[282 - 283] and you have a break on your hands,
[283 - 285] so it's doable but challenging.
[285 - 289] Start with just yolk and mustard and add oil very slowly.
[289 - 292] When it starts to thicken, add a little lemon juice.
[292 - 294] Now go back to oil and continue whisking
[294 - 295] until it is thick again.
[295 - 297] Now whisk in a little water to thin it
[297 - 298] and then switch back to oil.
[298 - 300] One yolk contains enough lecithin
[300 - 303] to emulsify 100 cups of oil.
[303 - 304] That's eight gallons of mayonnaise.
[304 - 307] So you can keep going back and forth with oil and water
[307 - 309] until you have as much mayo as you need.
[309 - 313] Bringing in power equipment can make things a lot easier
[313 - 314] and generally more failproof.
[314 - 317] My favorite way is using an immersion blender.
[317 - 319] I'll combine our egg yolk, mustard, and lemon juice
[319 - 321] and a tall jar like this.
[321 - 323] Now I stick in the immersion blender
[323 - 325] and pour my oil down the side of the blender
[325 - 327] so that it settles on top.
[327 - 329] Then I just turn on the immersion blender
[329 - 332] and watch as mayonnaise starts to form at the very bottom.
[332 - 333] Once it gets going,
[333 - 335] I start to slowly bring the immersion blender up
[335 - 338] to incorporate more oil until I get all the way to the top.
[338 - 341] This is homemade mayonnaise in about two minutes.
[341 - 343] Now, the reason this method works
[343 - 346] is that the immersion blender pulls in oil relatively slowly
[346 - 347] through the openings on the head of the blender
[348 - 350] directly into a very fast blade.
[350 - 352] The key here is to use a container
[352 - 353] that is only slightly wider
[353 - 355] than the head of the immersion blender.
[355 - 358] That gives you a nice, thick layer of liquid and emulsifiers
[358 - 360] for the oil to sit on top of.
[360 - 361] If you use a wider vessel,
[361 - 363] everything is spread out too much.
[363 - 364] This method allows you
[364 - 367] to make a small amount of mayonnaise very quickly.
[367 - 369] The food processor method up next
[369 - 371] requires a certain volume for it to work.
[371 - 373] This food processor mayonnaise recipe
[373 - 376] comes to us from Cooks Illustrated senior editor Lan Lam,
[376 - 378] and it has a completely novel method
[378 - 381] plus a way to avoid eating raw eggs,
[381 - 383] just in case raw eggs is one of the reasons
[383 - 385] you may have avoided making homemade mayonnaise in the past.
[385 - 388] We stir together three tablespoons of water, two egg yolks,
[388 - 389] and a little lemon juice in a bowl
[390 - 391] until no streaks of yolk remain.
[391 - 393] Then we simply microwave it
[393 - 397] until it hits 160 to 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
[397 - 398] We'll stir every 10 seconds.
[398 - 400] It only takes about a minute or two,
[400 - 402] and the yolks are then fully safe to eat.
[402 - 406] Then we add a quarter cup of oil, salt, mustard, and sugar.
[406 - 408] After whisking that to combine,
[408 - 410] we'll strain this mixture through a fine mesh strainer
[410 - 413] directly into the bowl of our food processor.
[413 - 414] Now, with the machine running,
[414 - 417] we slowly drizzle in the remaining 1 1/4 cups of oil
[417 - 420] in a nice, thin stream over the course of about two minutes,
[420 - 421] and that is it.
[421 - 422] Because of our pasteurization,
[422 - 425] this can be refrigerated for up to one month.
[425 - 427] The crazy thing about all of this emulsion stuff
[427 - 429] is that once you make a stable mayo,
[429 - 430] it's a permanent emulsion.
[430 - 432] That's not true for something like a vinaigrette,
[432 - 433] which will break over time.
[433 - 434] It's so stable, in fact,
[434 - 436] that you can add quite a lot of liquid
[436 - 438] and other ingredients to it without it breaking.
[438 - 440] And here is where we get into our aioli,
[440 - 443] I mean, flavored mayonnaises.
[443 - 446] I have nothing against garlic mayo, sriracha mayo,
[446 - 447] or even gochujang mayo,
[447 - 449] but I find it pretty hard to beat
[449 - 451] what the Peruvians do with mayonnaise.
[451 - 454] I'm talking about the aji amarillo and the aji verde sauces
[454 - 456] that accompany pollo a la brasa,
[456 - 459] which are impossibly delicious rotisserie chickens.
[459 - 461] Each are dead simple to make with a blender.
[461 - 463] For our aji amarillo sauce,
[463 - 466] we have mayo, ahi amarillo paste,
[466 - 468] lime juice, garlic, and huacatay paste.
[468 - 470] Aji amarillo is a yellow Peruvian chili
[471 - 472] that is fruity and spicy.
[472 - 475] It's easiest to find it in a jar around here.
[475 - 477] Huacatay, often referred to as black mint,
[477 - 478] isn't actually mint at all.
[478 - 480] It has a medicinal earthy flavor
[480 - 482] that gives backbone to the sauce.
[482 - 485] And for our aji verde, we blend mayonnaise,
[485 - 487] stem seeded jalapeno, cilantro,
[487 - 492] Cotija cheese, lime juice, huacatay, and garlic.
[492 - 496] They are beautiful to look at and incredibly flavorful, mm.
[496 - 498] The yellow sauce is bright
[498 - 500] with the fruity flavor of aji amarillo,
[500 - 503] and the aji verde is a celebration of green chili.
[503 - 505] It's grassy and earthy.
[505 - 507] Now, these are of course perfect for chicken
[507 - 508] but don't stop there.
[508 - 511] Fried yucca, french fries, roasted vegetables,
[511 - 512] as a spread on sandwiches.
[512 - 514] Can't stop, won't stop.
[514 - 518] Now, besides just adding things to mayonnaise and eating it,
[518 - 519] mayo's creaminess and viscosity
[519 - 521] make it incredibly versatile.
[521 - 524] My buddy J. Kenji Lopez-Alt wrote for the New York Times
[524 - 526] how mayonnaise is an excellent marinade
[526 - 529] because its viscosity means it sticks to the protein,
[529 - 531] whereas oil pretty much just runs off.
[531 - 533] Now, that's a fun use for mayonnaise.
[533 - 534] Many people like to use mayo on their bread
[534 - 537] when making grilled cheese, but I'm not one of them.
[537 - 538] Yes, it's easy to spread.
[538 - 541] Yes, it helps bread brown because it is mostly oil.
[541 - 543] No, it does not taste like butter
[543 - 545] that browns while the sandwich cooks.
[545 - 547] But I sure do love mayo inside of a sandwich.
[547 - 550] Here's a use you've probably never heard of: chocolate cake.
[550 - 551] Yep, that's right.
[551 - 552] We have a simple chocolate cake recipe,
[552 - 554] which is linked below,
[554 - 556] that calls for two thirds of a cup of mayonnaise
[556 - 557] in place of oil.
[557 - 558] Though it might sound strange,
[558 - 560] it was a common technique back in the day,
[560 - 561] and just take a look at the impact
[561 - 563] of this unusual ingredient.
[563 - 564] Check out this experiment.
[564 - 566] This cake contains two thirds of a cup of mayo
[566 - 570] and this one contains the components of the mayonnaise but unemulsified.
[570 - 573] The mayo cake rises higher and has a fine, even crumb.
[573 - 576] Once again, that's thanks to added viscosity
[576 - 579] and a thicker batter that can trap more air and rise.
[579 - 581] But at the end of the day, I come back down to Earth,
[581 - 585] and the single finest way to eat mayonnaise, a BLT.
[585 - 586] I take white bread
[586 - 588] that I've griddled in butter on just one side,
[588 - 591] then I slather mayo on the untoasted sides.
[591 - 594] Next, I layer on the crispy, thin cut bacon,
[594 - 596] iceberg lettuce, thick tomato slices,
[596 - 598] and plenty of salt and pepper.
[600 - 602] This is the finest sandwich on Earth,
[602 - 606] and is definitely how to eat mayonnaise.
[608 - 610] Thank you all so much for watching.
[610 - 612] Now, I'm assigning you a little bit of homework here.
[612 - 613] In the comments,
[613 - 615] i really want to know what's your brand preference
[615 - 616] for store bought mayonnaise,
[616 - 618] and maybe throw in where you grew up.
[618 - 620] I'd love to see if there's a correlation.
[620 - 625] Now down there, you can also find a link to cooksillustrated.com/whatseatingdan.
[625 - 627] There, you can find the recipes from this show
[627 - 629] and seriously every single episode
[629 - 631] that we've done over six seasons,
[631 - 633] so you definitely need to check that out.
[633 - 634] I'm looking forward to seeing you next time,
[634 - 637] and in the meantime, go eat mayonnaise.