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Cooked Mayonnaise
Put on the stove one teacup of vinegar and let it come to a boil (in double vessel), adding three tablespoons sugar, one teaspoon salt, a pinch of cayenne pepper, and six mustard spoons of mixed or French mustard, with three tablespoons of olive oil or melted butter. While this mixture is heating beat well the yolks of three eggs, adding at the last a dessertspoon of flour. Whip this lightly into the heated vinegar, etc., and let cook till thick, stirring all the while and never letting boil. Remove and cool. This will keep a long time (for salad dressing) without ice.
This is a boiled dressing rather than a true emulsified mayonnaise — the eggs and flour thicken it like a savoury custard, which is why the book claims it keeps. A few of the measures need translating before you start.
- Double vesselThat means a double boiler: a heatproof bowl or pan set over simmering water. It is not optional here, since direct heat will scramble the yolks before the flour has a chance to thicken them.
- TeacupTeacup measures varied in American books of this period; reckon it somewhere between 4 and 6 fl oz rather than a full measuring cup. Use plain cider or white wine vinegar; a harsh distilled vinegar at this proportion is punishing.
- Mustard spoonA mustard spoon is the tiny spoon that came with a condiment pot; sizes varied, but a quarter-teaspoon is a fair reckoning. Six of them is then about 1 1/2 teaspoons of prepared mustard, so the mustard is a seasoning, not the dominant note.
- DessertspoonAbout 2 teaspoons. Whisk the flour into the beaten yolks off the heat so it goes in smooth — lumps at this stage will not cook out.
- Never letting boilThis is the hinge. Yolks begin to set from around 150-160F and the mixture will thicken well below a simmer; if it boils it can curdle, and though the flour gives some protection, stirring will not always bring it back. Pull it the moment it coats the back of the spoon.
- KeepingDisregard "will keep a long time without ice." It is a cooked egg custard with oil in it; refrigerate in a covered jar and use within about five days.
- Yield and useRoughly a cup and a quarter. A sharp sweet-sour dressing of this kind suits fruit and vegetable salads better than an oily one.
- ConsistencyIt thickens further as it cools and may set quite stiff. Thin it with a spoonful of cream, milk or more vinegar when you dress the salad.
Cooked or "boiled" dressings like this one were the everyday alternative to real mayonnaise in American kitchens through the second half of the nineteenth century and well into the twentieth. True mayonnaise demanded a great deal of oil, a steady hand and, crucially, ice to keep the emulsion from breaking in a warm kitchen — all reasons cookbooks of the period recommend it be made in a chilled bowl over ice. A dressing thickened with egg yolk and a little flour needs none of that: it is stable, uses only a few spoonfuls of oil or butter, and, as the writer proudly notes, was thought to keep on a pantry shelf. The sugar-and-vinegar balance is of the kind often associated with fruit and cabbage, and dressings of this general type are sometimes seen as forerunners of the sweet, tangy bottled salad dressings that later displaced them.