The funny thing is that I never liked mayo. Because of the ingredients. The sheer thought of store bought mayo and what might be in it grossed me out. Until I learned that it is so simple to make your own mayo with your own ingredients.
Simple? Don't believe me? Check this out:
The key is to use the hand blender. When your jar is not much wider than the blender than it is even faster. After adding the oil and blending for a few seconds you just pull up the blender and you are done. In the video I had to stir a little bit longer because of the wider jar and mixing everything through.
Now comes the other important part of making good mayo: The ingredients.
Let's start with fresh raw pasture raised eggs. Raw eggs. Afraid of salmonella? Don't! Pasture raised eggs from healthy chickens getting sun and a good diet including bugs are not a threat for carrying salmonella. BTW, want to know why I avoid buying eggs fed a 100% vegetarian diet? That is a guarantee that the chickens were never out in nature.
But we want them to be outside, to have their natural food so they can lay eggs with an optimal omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, and being high in essential nutrients like B-vitamins, choline, selenium and others. Those kind of eggs are hardly found in any store bought mayonnaise.
Next, let's look at the oils. All store bought mayo I've found so far are made with canola oil and/or other processed vegetable oils high in polyunsaturated fatty acids. I definitely want to avoid those. Most of them contain a lot of omega-6, and none, or barely any omega-3. These polyunsaturated fatty acids are very heat sensitive and the extraction process of vegetable oils includes heat and even chemicals. This video shows how regular canola oil is made. It is hard to find any true expeller and cold pressed vegetable oil. But even when you have an organic, not-gmo, cold and expeller pressed canola oil, there is still the problem with too many polyunsaturated fatty acids in general as these should be consumed only in small amounts as part of a healthy diet.
Check out the table below if you are curious about the fatty acid profile of common fats and oils.
Better oils for making mayo are monounsaturated oils like olive oil, avocado oil, or high-oleic sunflower oil which mimics the fatty acid profile of olive oil. The only thing with olive oil is that it makes the mayo taste bitter. That's why I prefer the other two, more tasteless oils. The original recipe is from Nourishing Traditions, and they suggest also a combination of olive and sunflower oil.
The emulsifier here is freshly squeezed lemon juice. Djon mustard and salt provide additional flavor. I usually use Pink Himalayan Salt to get as many trace minerals as possible.
There is one more ingredient I like to add, and that is whey which acts as a preservative here. Whey is the yellowish fluid from plain yogurt. You can get it by straining yogurt through a sifter lined with a cheese cloth. The remaining solids are cream cheese, ready to eat. The fluid is the whey which can be used as a starter for lacto-fermentation. This is the traditional process of preserving food by letting the good bacteria multiply to keep the bad ones in check.
And that's it. Nothing else. This mayo is something I really grew fond of. Besides tasting yummy, this lacto-fermented mayonnaise adds nutrients, including enzymes and probiotics to the diet, and it is really easy to make!
Guten Appetit!
Judith
The Nourishing Yogini
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Recipe Mayonnaise
adapted from Nourishing Traditions, page 137
1 whole egg, ideally pasture raised, room temperature
1 egg yolk, ideally pasture raised, room temperature
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 + 1/8 tsp pink Himalayan salt (adjust if you use regular table salt, not recommended but doable)
1 tbsp whey (optional)
1 cup combination of high oleic sunflower oil (or avocado oil) and olive oil
Place all ingredients except the oil in a jar and blend for a few seconds with a hand blender. Add the oil and use the blender to let the mayo emulsify. Done. As you can see in the video above.
Notes:
If you prefer a milder-tasting mayonnaise, then use only a little olive oil. My favorite combination is a bit more olive oil than sunflower oil, resulting in a stronger-tasting mayo.
The emulsifier here is freshly squeezed lemon juice. Djon mustard and salt provide additional flavor. I usually use Pink Himalayan Salt to get as many trace minerals as possible.
There is one more ingredient I like to add, and that is whey which acts as a preservative here. Whey is the yellowish fluid from plain yogurt. You can get it by straining yogurt through a sifter lined with a cheese cloth. The remaining solids are cream cheese, ready to eat. The fluid is the whey which can be used as a starter for lacto-fermentation. This is the traditional process of preserving food by letting the good bacteria multiply to keep the bad ones in check.
And that's it. Nothing else. This mayo is something I really grew fond of. Besides tasting yummy, this lacto-fermented mayonnaise adds nutrients, including enzymes and probiotics to the diet, and it is really easy to make!
Guten Appetit!
Judith
The Nourishing Yogini
------------------
Recipe Mayonnaise
adapted from Nourishing Traditions, page 137
1 whole egg, ideally pasture raised, room temperature
1 egg yolk, ideally pasture raised, room temperature
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 + 1/8 tsp pink Himalayan salt (adjust if you use regular table salt, not recommended but doable)
1 tbsp whey (optional)
1 cup combination of high oleic sunflower oil (or avocado oil) and olive oil
Place all ingredients except the oil in a jar and blend for a few seconds with a hand blender. Add the oil and use the blender to let the mayo emulsify. Done. As you can see in the video above.
Notes:
If you prefer a milder-tasting mayonnaise, then use only a little olive oil. My favorite combination is a bit more olive oil than sunflower oil, resulting in a stronger-tasting mayo.
If whey is used then let the mayo sit for 7 hours or overnight at room temperature to allow the lactobacillus to work and multiply before putting it in the fridge. There it will keep for several months. The texture will get firmer over time.
Without the whey the mayo will keep about 10 days in the refrigerator.
Without the whey the mayo will keep about 10 days in the refrigerator.
Ready to make your own mayo? Let me know how it goes!
