Mayonnaise

My father was the person who always made the mayonnaise. The oil that he used then, came in a large can, and he would punch a tiny hole with his ice pick, so the oil could just drip out. Mayonnaise is an emulsion, that is the protein of the egg forms a thin stable film around tiny gobules of the oil and keeps them suspended in the liquid. Homemade mayonnaise is not easy to make. It doesn't keep very long. We used the home grown eggs but I don't think that is a serious factor. The important item to success is the adding the oil a drop at a time. Before the electric mixer it was easier as a two man job, one working the hand egg beater, while the other person held the oil can, dripping in one drop after another. It seemed to me that it was only getting it started that was tricky, then it went smoothly after that.

For two raw egg yolks, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and a couple of tablespoons full of lemon juice or vinegar, (tarragon is nice) you can add half a cup to a cup of oil. The oil wasn't measured. It didn't seem to affect the taste if more or less were added.

Today one would put two yolks into your electric mixer and whip them a bit and add a drop of oil. Visually you can see the oil skirt the edges of the mixture at first, but with continual beating, it begins to blend it, and you can add another drop, and another, always watching to see the oil doesn't really surface or lay apart from the mixture. As it continues to blend, you can continue to add, even a little faster, the mixture will change from the yellow yolk color to a whiter mayonnaise color that you are familiar with.

Optional flavors could include 1/4 teaspoon of dry mustard, excellent flavor for potato salad, or a tablespoon of honey for dressing to be used with fruits. A fourth of a cup of chopped pickles and minced onions would make a tasty tartar sauce. For a sandwich type spread, chopped olives, onions, parsley, pickles, and a tablespoon of vinegar was a nice combination.

Another popular sandwich spread, especially for hot meats, was mayonnaise, chopped onions, and catsup. This could also contain horseradish, or peppers if the cook fancied it.

Green salad dressing popular at our table, was made from Blue Cheese ordered from Maytag, Iowa. The recipe would include 1 tablespoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1 tablespoon of dry or fresh onion, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, 1 tablespoon of dry parsley, 1/2 tablespoon of dry mustard, 1/2 teaspoon of celery salt. This was mixed into 1 quart of buttermilk, and 1 quart of mayonnaise wire whipped to blend. Don't use a mixer here. 3 ounces of crumbled Blue Cheese was added with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to one cup of dressing. This must be refrigerated.

It is interesting to note that during my growing up years, whenever my mother made potato salad, which was a favorite dish at our house, she never mixed the mayonnaise with the potatoes as most everyones I have ever tasted has done. She would take the mayonnaise and blend in cream, making a very liquid dressing. This is what she would pour over the potato salad. It was the way I always familiar with and didn't realize until I was older it wasn't the typical salad dressing used by other families. She prepared this creamy dressing for shrimp salads, and cold slaws. My new husband didn't like it prepared this way, so it was abandoned in my household, but I can remember liking it her way, and sometimes think it would be tasty to have it again.

An occasional salad would be made from cucumbers, onion rings, and slices of cooked cold potatoes, combined with this same cream dressing. Typically the favorite cucumber dressing was the juice from the sweet pickles jar, as the pickles had used. This was a sweet tangy flavor and might be a little like our russian dressings of today.

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