Mayonnaise
Rinse a bowl in hot water and dry it thoroughly. Put in 2 egg yolks, ½ teaspoon salt, a little pepper, ½ teaspoon dry mustard, and 1 teaspoon vinegar. Mix all together well. Add 1 cup olive oil, drop by drop, beating continually until 5 or 6 drops have been added. Add ½ teaspoon vinegar and then the rest of the oil in a thin stream, beating all the time. Add a final ½ teaspoon vinegar when the mixture becomes thick. Prepared mustard may be used instead of, or in addition to, the dry mustard, and ½ teaspoon lemon juice instead of the vinegar.
If the mayonnaise should separate or curdle, beat another egg yolk slightly and whip the curdled mixture into the new yolk, a very little at a time. This will restore the emulsion. If the mayonnaise is not to be used immediately, stir in 1 tablespoon boiling water after the last of the oil has been added—it will hold better.
Mayonnaise is standard, but its variations are far from standard. By that I mean that different chefs, different cook-books, and even different localities put together combinations that vary as to the specific ingredients and the amounts of them which may be added to the basic mayonnaise. The recipes given here are the ones usually served in first-class restaurants.
Light Mayonnaise
Use primarily with fruit for salads. Add the juice of ½ lemon to 1 cup of mayonnaise and then fold in 2 table-spoons whipped cream.
Mayonnaise à la Mint
Use with cold vegetables such as broccoli or with cold fish. Make an infusion with 1 tablespoon mint leaves and ½ cup vinegar by scalding the vinegar and pouring it over the chopped mint leaves. Cool, strain, and use for the vinegar called for in the mayonnaise recipe. Add a few chopped mint leaves to the finished mayonnaise.
Green Sauce
Use with cold lobster, salmon, striped bass, or other fish. Wash thoroughly 15 water cress leaves, 12 spinach leaves, and 8 parsley tops. Cover them with boiling salted water and let stand for 5 or 6 minutes. Drain, put in cold water, and drain again, pressing out all the surplus water. Rub the wilted leaves through a fine strainer and combine with 2 cups mayonnaise, mixing well. Add more seasoning if desired.
Vincent Sauce
Use with fish, especially with fried fish like white bait, oyster crabs, soft-shelled crabs, or with cold lobster, salmon, striped bass, and other fish. Follow the recipe for green sauce, adding 15 sorrel leaves, blanched as above, to the other greens called for. Tarragon and chives are sometimes used.
Rémoulade Sauce
Use with any fried fish, cold fish, or shellfish. Add ½ cup finely chopped sour pickles, 2 tablespoons finely chopped capers, 1 tablespoon prepared mustard, and 1 tablespoon mixed chopped parsley, tarragon, and chervil to 2 cups mayonnaise. Mix well. Make sure that all the moisture is pressed out of the chopped pickles and capers.
Tartare Sauce
To the recipe for rémoulade sauce, add 6 ripe olives, finely chopped, and 1 teaspoon chopped chives.
Sauce Niçoise
Use with cold fish or shellfish. Cook ½ cup tomato purée until it is reduced and as thick as mayonnaise, stirring as it cooks to prevent scorching. Chill. Chop 1 medium-sized pepper, red or green, very finely and 1 teaspoon mixed tarragon and chives. Combine purée, pepper, and herbs with 2 cups mayonnaise and mix well.
Aïoli Sauce
Use with hot or cold fish. Crush 4 small cloves garlic (more or less to taste) very thoroughly and combine with ½ teaspoon salt and 2 egg yolks. Add 1 cup olive oil, a few drops at a time, until 5 or 6 drops have been added, then continue adding it in a thin stream as in making mayonnaise. If the mixture becomes too thick, add a little warm water. Some add ½ cup mashed potato, cold or lukewarm, with the idea that it will prevent the sauce from separating. After all the oil is in, add the juice of ½ lemon.
Russian Dressing for Shellfish
Use with cold shellfish, especially lobster. Mix together the tomalley and coral of a cooked lobster with 1 table-spoon caviar and rub through a fine sieve. Add 1 teaspoon prepared mustard and combine with 1 to 1 ½ cups mayonnaise. Add 1 teaspoon finely chopped chives and parsley and mix well.
Russian Dressing
Add 3 tablespoons chili sauce, 1 teaspoon finely chopped pimiento, and 1 teaspoon finely chopped chives to 1 cup mayonnaise.
Mona Lisa Dressing
Add 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon horseradish, and 1 teaspoon English mustard to 1 cup mayonnaise. Then fold in 2 tablespoons very heavy cream, plain or whipped.
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