Mayonnaise
Source of Recipe
By Food Network Kitchens
Recipe Introduction
Mayonnaise, other emulsions can be tricky
By Food Network Kitchens........
Boulder Daily Camera.............
Q: Whenever I try to make mayonnaise, I always wind up with a soupy mess. What is the real process and why can't I do it? -
List of Ingredients
A: Mayonnaise, hollandaise, vinaigrettes and all their variations are
emulsions. An emulsion is when water and fat come together to make a
creamy thick liquid, generally a sauce. Water and oil, as the
expression goes, don't mix. However, when liquid fats are slowly
incorporated into watery liquid, the fat molecules disperse in the
liquid and result in a thick and creamy suspension. This process, fat
slowly whisked into a thin liquid, is repeated constantly in cooking:
oil into vinegar for vinaigrettes, oil into egg yolks with lemon
juice for mayonnaises and hollandaises, and chilled butter into wine
for buerre blanc.
Start with the liquid (usually an acid like lemon juice, vinegar or
wine) and the seasonings (herbs, mustards, salt, pepper, etc.) in a
bowl. Blend the liquid and the flavorings with a whisk. Make sure
that the bowl is stabilized with a dish towel underneath it so you
can use one had to whisk and the other to pour while making the
emulsion. Then, in a thin stream, while whisking, start drizzling in
the fat (usually melted butter or oil). The mixture will at first be
cloudy, then it will thicken. If it is not thickening, stop pouring
in oil. Whisk in one corner of the mixture, coaxing part of the oil
and acid into an emulsion. Then widen the amount being whisked to
incorporate the rest of the oil.
When an emulsion breaks down, the fat and liquid separate, and looks
curdled. The standard kitchen phrase for this is that "the sauce is
broken." Two key techniques that almost always ensure a successful
emulsion are, first, a stable temperature, making the emulsion at
neither too hot nor cold a temperature, and second, always add the
fat slowly into the watery liquid. Certain foods help to make
tighter, thicker emulsions of fat and water, for example mustard,
cream and egg yolks in vinaigrettes.
Recipe
|
|
member logon
