Making mayo

I absolutely love mayonnaise: It must be the Dutch influence in my upbringing (yes, Mum, it's your fault). I use mayonnaise the way other people use tomato sauce - in particular, I always dip my fish and chips in mayo instead of tomato sauce. But it's one of those things you just buy at the supermarket, without even considering the possibility of making your own. It'd never have occurred to me to make my own mayonnaise, had I not been doing this challenge.

I had to make mayonnaise (p184) at some stage, so when I decided to use my last remaining Granny Smith for a waldorf salad (p180), it seemed like a good time to have a go at the mayo as well.

Mayonnaise is not difficult to make, (if you remove the difficulties of trying to take a photo of yourself pouring oil into a bowl, subsequently spilling it all over the bench and floor, because you're twisting your hand at an awkward angle) it just takes a bit of whisking. Basically you start with an egg yolk, a little mustard powder and cayenne pepper, and some vinegar. Then you add the oil gradually, keep whisking, and eventually it thickens.

The finished product doesn't look like bought mayonnaise. It's yellowish rather than white. Well, mine was! I assume it looked like it was supposed to, because it tasted ok. The taste was a bit different to the bought stuff as well, but I liked it - surprisingly, since I'm a bit picky about my mayo. Bear in mind that it's about 95% oil, though: the bonus about bought mayo is that you can get low-fat versions.

Having made the mayonnaise, I needed a salad to use it in. Waldorf salad consists of chopped apple, orange, celery and walnut, tossed in mayonnaise or a similar dressing. It's nice and and crunchy, and very fresh-tasting. If you don't like celery, stay away from this one, but otherwise I'd recommend it. The only negative was that there was a bit too much dressing - the salad was sort of swimming in it. But that's probably my own fault: I got a bit excited using my homemade mayo..

Despite the overdressing, the leftover salad was still perfectly edible for dinner the next night. That's not something you could say about most salads, especially once the dressing has gone on. So it's a really good one for any barbeques or similar when you're asked to bring a salad - you want something that won't be limp and grotty by the time you get there.

So that's some of my homemade mayonnaise used. Luckily there are plenty of other recipes with mayo in them, so I'll be able to use up the rest! I've got no idea how long it'll keep, but I bet it's not as long as the bought stuff!