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Standard Mayonnaise
Mix in a small bowl, half a teaspoonful of sugar, the same amount of salt, and a pinch of paprika.
Now add an egg yolk and half a teaspoonful of vinegar. Then add three quarters of a cup of olive oil, drop by drop, until the mayonnaise begins to thicken, then add little by little the rest of the oil and two tablespoonfuls of vinegar and lemon juice or all lemon. This dressing may also be varied by the addition of a chopped hard-boiled egg, chopped pickles, and in many other ways.
A classic hand-whisked emulsion in the French manner, with proportions that still work. The whole thing hinges on how slowly the first quarter-cup of oil goes in.
- The hingeAdd the oil literally drop by drop until the mixture visibly thickens and holds a track from the whisk. Once the emulsion is established you can pour in a thin steady stream, but rushing the first stage is the only reliable way to make this fail.
- YieldThree quarters of a cup of oil plus one yolk gives roughly a cup of mayonnaise, enough to dress salad for six to eight. It is not a large batch and it takes about ten minutes by hand.
- Egg temperatureCold yolk straight from the refrigerator emulsifies sluggishly. Let the egg sit out until it is no longer chilled, and use the bowl and whisk at room temperature too.
- Vinegar in two stagesThe half teaspoonful at the start is there to thin the yolk and help it take up oil; the two tablespoonfuls at the end are for seasoning. Do not consolidate them, or the emulsion will be too loose to catch.
- "Vinegar and lemon juice or all lemon"Two tablespoonfuls total, split however you like. Plain white wine or cider vinegar suits the olive oil; distilled white vinegar gives a harsher result.
- The oilA modern assertive extra-virgin oil can turn bitter when whipped, so use a light olive oil, or cut extra-virgin half and half with a neutral oil.
- If it breaksStart a fresh yolk in a clean bowl and beat the split mixture into it drop by drop, as though it were the oil. Nothing is lost but time.
- Raw yolkThe editor's note above stands: for anyone pregnant, elderly, very young or immune-compromised, use pasteurised eggs. Keep the finished mayonnaise refrigerated and use it within three or four days.
- The variationsChopped hard-boiled egg and pickle turn this into a tartare-style dressing; the "many other ways" of the period meant chili sauce for Russian dressing, whipped cream for a fruit salad, or crushed garlic for something closer to aioli.
Mayonnaise reached American home cooking through French restaurant practice. Its name is usually traced to Mahón in Menorca, though that derivation is traditional rather than proven, and rival explanations point to the French manier, to handle or work. What dates this version is not the method, which is unchanged, but the assumption behind it: that the reader would beat a cup of emulsion by hand as a matter of routine, and would think of the result as a base to be varied endlessly rather than a fixed condiment bought by the jar.