Mayonnaise is a major ingredient in most any cuisine. Tartar Sauce, Ranch, Caesar Dressing, and many more recipes call for a good mayonnaise. However, all the major brands have long gone to seed oils like soybean as a base. Even my old favorite, Duke’s Mayonnaise, starts with soybean oil, then eggs, then water, vinegar, and the minor ingredients, oleo resin paprika, “natural flavors”, and calcium disodium EDTA. Duke’s is tastier because the oil is the first ingredient – and why it’s more expensive – but it is mostly seed oil. Your $9-$11 gallons of mayo have water as the first ingredient and use stabilizers like corn starch or xantham gum to hold its texture.
Fruit oils like olive oil and avocado oil are being used in mayonnaises but none have commercial sizes. Chosen Foods and Kevala brands have an avocado oil by the 35# bucket that you could use to make mayo but the bucket costs in the range of $150. Olive oil is in the same price range so you’d have to jack up the price of your fish and chips to serve that in your tartar sauce. Read the ingredients if you use any olive oil mayonnaise as many are advertised as such but have canola and soybean oils in them as well. “Mayonnaise WITH Olive Oil” is a dead giveaway. Keep in mind, all your commercial mayonnaise has filtered water to balance them out and drop the cost a bit.
While an olive oil or avocado oil mayonnaise is expensive, it would cost about $30 per gallon. I recommend using Avocado Oil for sauteeing, as it has a higher cost differential. And, if your restaurant is like most, saute station isn’t the busiest station. The cost differential would be small.
Liquid tallow is a relatively new product that would make a mayo in the cost range of your generic mayonnaises. At $12 – $14 per gallon, the difference would be in labor and shelf life, which adds complexity. But the marketing point would be huge. But, always, quality of taste should be the final deciding factor.
Here’s a recipe for making mayonnaise using liquid tallow. Try it first in a small quantity as below and proceed to larger recipes if it makes a good mayo:
Ingredients:
- 1 large egg yolk (at room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice or white wine vinegar
- 1 cup liquid tallow (ensure it’s at room temperature for easier blending)
- Salt to taste (start with a pinch, adjust as needed
- Filtered water (optional, to taste and texture)
Equipment:
- Immersion blender or food processor (for ease of emulsification)
- A tall, narrow container if using an immersion blender (helps with emulsion)
Instructions:
- Prepare Your Ingredients: Ensure your egg yolk is at room temperature. If your tallow has been refrigerated, let it come to room temperature or warm it slightly (not hot) to keep it liquid.
- Start the Base: In your blending container, combine the egg yolk, Dijon mustard, and lemon juice or vinegar. Whisk these together manually or with a quick pulse if using a food processor.
- Emulsify:
- With Immersion Blender: Place the immersion blender into the container, ensuring it’s at the bottom where the yolk mixture is. Start blending on a low speed, then very slowly start drizzling in the liquid tallow. Keep the blender at the bottom until you see it begin to thicken, then slowly lift it up and down to incorporate all the oil.
- With Food Processor: With the machine running, slowly drizzle the tallow into the feed tube. The key here is to add the tallow in a very slow, steady stream to help the emulsion form.
- Season: Once you have a thick, creamy consistency, taste your mayonnaise. Add salt incrementally until you reach the desired flavor. Optionally, add white pepper or garlic powder for additional taste.
- Adjust Consistency: If your mayonnaise is too thick, you can thin it out with a little more lemon juice or a few drops of water. If it’s too thin, you can try blending in a bit more tallow, but this is harder to correct.
- Storage: Transfer the mayonnaise to a clean jar or container. It should be kept in the refrigerator where it will last for about a week. Note that because tallow is different from vegetable oils, the texture might slightly change when refrigerated but should remain spreadable.
Tips:
- Temperature: If the mayonnaise doesn’t emulsify, it could be because the ingredients are too cold. Room temperature ingredients, especially the egg yolk, are crucial.
- Blending: If you’re not using an immersion blender, a regular blender or food processor will work, but you’ll need to be even more patient with adding the tallow to avoid breaking the emulsion.
- Flavor Profile: Since tallow imparts a beefy taste, this mayonnaise might be particularly good with beef-based dishes, burgers, or as a base for unique salad dressings.
This recipe leverages the unique qualities of liquid tallow to create a mayonnaise that’s both novel in flavor and texture, perfect for those looking for an alternative to traditional mayonnaise.
