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Mayonnaise Dressing
Into the yolks of two eggs, stir one-half teaspoon of Larkin Mustard, one teaspoon of Larkin Table Salt, oneeighth teaspoon of Larkin Cayenne Pepper. Blend well and into this beat very slowly the contents of one bottle of Larkin Olive Oil. When the mixture becomes too thick, thin with a few drops of lemon juice or vinegar. If a greater quantity of dressing is desired, another bottle of oil may be added, alternating, as before, with a few drops of acid when it becomes too thick, as the yolks of two eggs will contain a full pint of oil. When finished, add one-fourth cup of boiling water, which gives the dressing a very smooth flavor. Many experts advocate the addition of all the acid to the egg before the oil is added.
A classic hand-beaten mayonnaise, written when olive oil came in a bottle whose size the cook was assumed to know. The method is sound; only the measurements and the egg handling need attention.
- The hinge: start drop by dropThe emulsion is made or broken in the first tablespoon of oil. Add it a few drops at a time, beating constantly, until the mixture visibly thickens and gloss; only then can you pour in a thin steady stream. Oil added too fast at the start will never come together.
- "One bottle of oil" is unspecifiedThe recipe gives no volume, and the note that two yolks "will contain a full pint" suggests a bottle held rather less than a pint. Work by ratio instead: two yolks will carry up to 2 cups (1 pint) of oil comfortably, and 1 to 1 1/2 cups gives a lighter dressing.
- Seasoning scaleA full teaspoon of salt and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne are calibrated to that full pint of oil. If you use a cup of oil, halve them, and season again at the end once the acid is in.
- Everything at room temperatureCold yolks and cold oil emulsify badly. Set the eggs out for half an hour first; this is a common cause of a mayonnaise that refuses to thicken.
- The boiling water is not a cooking stepThe quarter cup of boiling water stabilises the emulsion and keeps it from separating on standing. It does not raise the mixture anywhere near a temperature that would pasteurise the yolks, so treat this as a raw-egg preparation: use pasteurised eggs if serving children, the elderly or anyone pregnant, keep it refrigerated, and use within three or four days.
- Acid first, if you likeThe closing suggestion is worth taking. Beating the lemon juice or vinegar into the yolks before any oil goes in gives a more forgiving emulsion and a slightly thinner, more pourable dressing. Figure on 1 to 2 tablespoons of acid for a pint of oil.
- The mustard is doing workDry mustard is not only flavour here; its mucilage helps hold the emulsion. Half a teaspoon of any English-style mustard powder substitutes directly for the house brand.
- If it breaksPut a fresh yolk, or a teaspoon of the finished mayonnaise, in a clean bowl and beat the split mixture into it drop by drop. Nothing is lost.
- YieldA pint of oil makes roughly 2 1/2 cups of dressing, enough for a large salad and several days of sandwiches.
Good Things to Eat belongs to a distinctly American genre: the house-brand cookbook. The Larkin Company of Buffalo began in 1875 as a soap manufacturer and grew into one of the great mail-order concerns, selling groceries, spices and household goods direct to families who ordered by catalogue and earned premiums for their purchases. That is why every ingredient in this dressing carries the Larkin name down to the pepper. The recipe itself is orthodox for its date. Mayonnaise had moved from French professional kitchens into the American home over the second half of the nineteenth century, arriving alongside the raw green salad as a fashionable course, and by 1900 a cook was expected to beat up a pint of it by hand with a fork or wire whisk. The finishing spoonfuls of boiling water are a period trick for holding the emulsion together; the closing line about "many experts" adding all the acid first records a genuine argument among cookery writers of the era, one that modern practice has never entirely settled.