One potential problem: I don’t know how it is in the rest of Europe, but in France basically all mayonnaise includes Dijon mustard, so you can’t just use it straight in an American recipe. I did usually see at least one brand labeled “American mayonnaise” that did not include mustard, but people would need to be aware of the difference.
I’d be curious to know if mayonnaise more or less always included mustard and it was for some reason stripped out of the recipe that made its way to the US (my guess would be the British having some role), or if mustard was a later addition to the French recipe after it had already crossed the Atlantic.
Mustard is used as an easy “natural” emulsifier to keep things together, since the ingredients in mayo don’t really want to be in that configuration and it is easy to “break” that mix.
The amounts needed to do so is very small though, and usually imperceptible at the scale of a whole jar of mayo. Definitely not something you’d notice in most cases.
But again, every brand is different. Some probably are more mustard forward for whatever reason.
That is a good question… Any recipe for homemade mayo I’ve ever seen includes mustard. A casual investigation makes it seem that mayonnaise originates from France or Spain to begin with (I guess it’s contested).
That said, I feel like in France all the mustard I have had is much punchier than what we have here in the States. Possible France has just added more and better mustard as a stabilizer?
One potential problem: I don’t know how it is in the rest of Europe, but in France basically all mayonnaise includes Dijon mustard, so you can’t just use it straight in an American recipe. I did usually see at least one brand labeled “American mayonnaise” that did not include mustard, but people would need to be aware of the difference.
I’d be curious to know if mayonnaise more or less always included mustard and it was for some reason stripped out of the recipe that made its way to the US (my guess would be the British having some role), or if mustard was a later addition to the French recipe after it had already crossed the Atlantic.
As a German I don’t think I’ve ever seen mustard in regular mayonnaise
It’s not universal across Europe, for sure, so I’d say this is A France problem.
Dutch, English, German mayo would be just fine. Can’t speak to Spanish or Italian mayo. Farther east, blander it gets.
But the added buttermilk/yogurt really makes it a negligible issue overall.
Mustard is used as an easy “natural” emulsifier to keep things together, since the ingredients in mayo don’t really want to be in that configuration and it is easy to “break” that mix.
The amounts needed to do so is very small though, and usually imperceptible at the scale of a whole jar of mayo. Definitely not something you’d notice in most cases.
But again, every brand is different. Some probably are more mustard forward for whatever reason.
That is a good question… Any recipe for homemade mayo I’ve ever seen includes mustard. A casual investigation makes it seem that mayonnaise originates from France or Spain to begin with (I guess it’s contested).
That said, I feel like in France all the mustard I have had is much punchier than what we have here in the States. Possible France has just added more and better mustard as a stabilizer?
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It is my understanding that mustard is often used as an emulsifier, especially in homemade mayo. But I don’t really like mayo, so I’m not an expert.
Is the mustard flavor you’re talking about subtle, or in your face?
It should be fairly simple to make a pull through mayo at home if you have a stick mixer.