Eggs, oil and vinegar come together to form a contested condiment: Mayonnaise, long thought to have been improvised by an 18th century French military chef who was short on cream. But some believe mayo dates back to the Spain of antiquity.

Mayonnaise, made from eggs, oil, and vinegar, is a widely used condiment that has long divided public opinion. While many attribute its invention to a French military chef in the 18th century, some historians suggest it may have originated in southern Spain, with the French later popularizing it due to their culinary influence.

The product has evolved significantly, from the mass-market success of Hellman's in the early 20th century to new artisanal brands like Ayo, which experiment with flavors and ingredients. Despite debates over its taste and history, mayonnaise remains a staple in kitchens and continues to inspire innovation.

Emulsifying the truth behind mayonnaise

What do you get when you mix eggs, oil, and vinegar together? Well, the oddly controversial condiment, mayonnaise. I'm sorry to say, it's kind of gross. Molly Baas is a chef and cookbook author in L.A. who's no stranger to the strong reaction that mayo gets. I think there's something kind of unappealing about the texture of mayo to some people, and if you really start to think hard about what it is, it's like, it's a little yuggy. Folks either seem to love it or really hate it. There are people for whom not liking mayonnaise is kind of their whole personality. Totally. I love that it inspires that conviction in people. Mayonnaise, you know, I think I'm a mayonnaise supporter, a defender of mayonnaise. Tom Neelan is a rare book dealer in Boston who's written about this useful but often maligned product. I think it gets a tough rap because people misuse it. Neelan shook up the food world back in 2010 when he challenged the very origin story of where mayo came from. The French always claimed it. In 1756, the French were attacking an English garrison on Menorca. The story went that after their victory, the French military chef couldn't find his usual ingredients to make a celebratory sauce, think whipped cream, so he improvised and got mayonnaise. You think that maybe that's not the actual true story behind this. What's your theory? So I think it just came from southern Spain and moved northwards. And then folks like the French started trying to claim it? Yeah, French cuisine was sort of dominant from the 17th well into the 20th century, so sort of what they said went. Neelan thinks it was people in what we now call Spain who figured out the secret of mayo, emulsification. Two liquids that specifically can't mix together being mixed together using an emulsifier. The whole egg goes into Hellman's real mayonnaise. And no one emulsifies more than Hellman's mayonnaise, which sells 13,000 ounces of mayo every minute. Richard Hellman opened Hellman's Delicatessen in 1913 with his wife Margaret. Their deli became the tasty talk of Manhattan's Upper West Side. Brandon Collins is Hellman's corporate chef. He wanted to create a superior mayonnaise, so what he did is he actually would tie a ribbon around every jar, a blue ribbon, and it became the iconic symbol that everybody knows today as the Hellman's mayo brain. And yes, if you're west of the Rockies, you know this stuff as best foods. Well, that's real mayonnaise. Been a lot of times that I've gotten photographs and text messages from family members and friends. They're like, this jar looks just like yours. It's like, well, yeah, because it's the same. What is not the same is Ayo, the mayo brand that Molly Baas, our chef in L.A., launched last year. How did I get here? Like, I'm just like the mayo girl now. The reason is, during the pandemic, I was eating a lot of sandwiches. Which is when, Baas says, she started thinking mayonnaise was due for an upgrade. The idea behind Ayo is that there's like way more than just fat going on. So like they're acidic, they're salty, they're a little bit sweet. They have pickles, they have spices, they have herbs. So it's meant to really dance around your palate. Alright, cheers. It's like the perfect bite. Pickley! Can I borrow the family napkin? Please, the commute bag. Yeah. That's a great sandwich. It really is. Nothing controversial about it. Wherever it came from, mayo is here to stay.

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