A Cook's Library

Went I went to the market I bought 36 delicious, fresh, rare-breed eggs, in colours ranging from snowy white to speckled brown, with deep orange yolks that prove the birds’ free-range, varied grass and herb-rich diet.  We eat a lot of eggs in our house. It is my staple low-cost (even the more expensive market ones are cheap in comparison to quality meat or fish) source of protein and eggs, particularly the yolks, are really extremely good for you.  Full of choline and vitamins A and D, a couple of eggs a day are as good as a multivitamin.

Sadly, on the way home I broke five. This is not unusual, as I am invariably balancing numerous canvas bags full of market delights on the back of my daughter’s buggy (I love those re-usable canvas bags and always carry a few but the handles are just TOO long for the handles of a pushchair. They drag and bump the wheels and make my feel I should be carrying a ‘wider than average load’ sign.)

I unpacked the sodden cartons with a heavy heart but managed to salvage at least three almost-whole ones and a couple of yolks. Omelette for supper is no hardship and neither is saving a couple of egg yolks, the whites already lost, with which to make fresh mayonnaise.

Fresh mayonnaise is nothing like the shop-bought kind. I usually make a lemon olive-oil version which some people can find overpowering – the scratchiness of olive oil on the back of the throat takes some getting used to, but when cut through with the sharpness of the lemon, the tang of sea-salt and all emulsified beautifully with those fresh yolks, there is nothing better – with asparagus spears in season (goodbye, lovely asparagus, we’re just coming to the end of the UK season) other briefly blanched vegetables, cold chicken, shell-fish, wild salmon – the uses for this sauce are endless.

I was long afraid of the splitting-potential of making mayonnaise but (fingers crossed) this has honestly only happened to me once and I think the egg was not so fresh. I usually use only one yolk as mayonnaise is rich and even one makes a fair bit, but experts advise making with two as it makes splitting less likely and fresh mayonnaise actually keeps for a week or more in the fridge.  I also make it by hand – not even worth the bother of getting the mixer out and having to wash it up.

Those afraid of raw eggs have come to the wrong place as I, you might have noticed, feel that most produce if reared well and naturally and on a farm that has a good reputation and hygiene standards is perfectly safe raw (see my raw milk and steak tartare posts if you don’t believe me!)  Eggs are still suffering from the salmonella smear campaign, unjustly as it turned out, but I will take my chances. Standard advice is for pregnant women and those with compromised immune systems to avoid raw eggs, but these ironically are just the groups who benefit most from then nurtrient-dense egg yolk. I happily ate raw egg yolks when pregnant – never whites, undercooked whites are hard to digest and act as a nutrient-blocker – but always yolks, soft in boiled eggs and raw in mayonnaise. But you must make your own mind up.

So here is my mayonnaise recipe – made from the rare-breed yolks and the organic olive oil I have recently fallen in love with. Choose an oil that is not overwhelmingly strong, but NEVER choose something labelled ‘light’ or claiming not to have a strong flavour, deodorised oils are not great. For different reasons (will explain another time, but something to do with too many omega 6 fats in our diets already) I am not a fan of sunflower oil, though many use this for a neutral mayonnaise (greasy I fine, anyway). Some say cold-pressed rapeseed oil is good for you and excellent in mayonnaise but I still prefer olive oil myself.

Lemon-Olive Oil Mayonnaise

2 super-fresh, best quality egg yolks

the juice of half a lemon

300 ml extra virgin olive oil

salt

Break the egg yolks into a bowl being scrupulous not to get any white mixed in.

Whisk the yolks with the lemon juice and a good pinch of salt until mixed.

Using the best bubble whisk you have start pouring the olive oil (from bottle or a jug) drop by drop, whisking all the time as the mayonnaise starts to emulsify. Once you have incorporated a little you can add slightly more each time but be careful.

If the unthinkable happens and it does split you can rescue it by breaking a third yolk into a separate bowl and whisking the split mixture into the new yolk, again drop by drop.

Adjust the lemon juice and salt seasonings.

Keep in the fridge and use to jazz up all kinds of meals.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 27th, 2010 at 9:03 am and is filed under Eggs, Sauces. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.