Mayonnaise is a condiment that is used in variety of sandwiches, burgers, salads and fast food items to enhance the flavor. The creamy condiment generally consists of egg yolk, oil and an acidic solution such as vinegar or lemon juice. Mayonnaise is everyone’s favorite. Many manufacturers have introduced new exciting flavors of mayonnaise. In this article, we have gathered some of exciting and interesting facts about mayonnaise, that you probably didn’t know before.
Top 10 exciting and interesting facts about mayonnaise!
1. History of mayonnaise
Though the exact history of mayonnaise is unclear, but it is most commonly believed that this condiment was made in 1756 by a French chef. The chef whipped up a creamy condiment by mixing egg yolks, oil and seasonings. This was to celebrate the 1756 French capture of Mahon, a city on the Spanish Isle of Minorca. Moreover this chef named the new sauce “Mahonnaise” in honor of the Duc’s victory. However, the Oxford English Dictionary suggests that the sauce got its present name of mayonnaise purely because of a printing error in an early 1841 cookbook.
2. Mayonnaise is not a mixture, it’s an emulsion!
Our favorite sandwich spread is basically an emulsion; meaning it’s a combination of two liquids that do not usually mix. The key ingredients of mayonnaise include egg yolks, vegetable oil, vinegar or lemon juice and some seasonings. Egg yolk serves the role of acidifying agent due to its component lecithin - a fat emulsifier. The ingredients are then whipped resulting in the creamy white or yellowish-white mayonnaise.3. Industries do not use raw eggs in mayonnaise any more - here is why!
Initially, the chefs and food industries used raw eggs for preparing mayonnaise. However, with raw egg, there is high risk of salmonella. In 1955, an outbreak in Denmark affected ten thousand people. Apparently, the source of outbreak was Salmonella contaminated mayonnaise. The food expert later identified that the Salmonella cases were because of inadequate acidification of the mayonnaise. Therefore, now the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends mayonnaise not to have a pH higher than 4.1.Also read: Interesting facts about cocktails
4. Do you know the nutritional value of mayonnaise?
Well mayonnaise is calories rich. The real mayonnaise by Hellmann’s contains about 700 calories per 100 grams of serving. About 31% of the calories and 60% of the fat content in Burger King’s Chicken Sandwich come from the mayonnaise. Mayonnaise is high in vitamin K as well.
5. Who eat the most mayonnaise?
Russia is the top consumer of mayo followed by Eastern European nations including Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus, Belgium, Estonia, Latvia, Chile, Netherlands and Poland. You can guess the popularity of mayo in Netherlands by the fact that they serve mayonnaise with fries instead of ketchup. Aside from its popularity as condiment and sauce, mayonnaise has some of interesting and unique uses.6. Mayonnaise itself serves as the base for some other sauces!
The food industries use mayo as the base for some of other sauces. These include tartar sauce, Ranch, Thousand Island, and aioli.
7. You can mayonnaise to make your plants shine!
You may not know that mayonnaise can make plants shine lusciously for weeks. Even the professional florists use this useful technique. Give it a try and wash your house plants and apply some mayonnaise to make them shiny and glossy.8. Weird fact about mayonnaise - You can use mayonnaise as hair and face mask!
Another of unusual yet interesting use of mayonnaise is that it can be used as hair and face mask. Though it is unclear how effective the mask is, but yes people use it. Take a small amount of mayonnaise in a bowl, heat it for a few seconds and let it cool down. Then, gently apply it on your face and gently scrub it. As we know, mayonnaise contains eggs and other natural ingredients; it serves as an exfoliant and thus removes dead skin cells. Similarly, people use mayonnaise as hair mask to moisturize the dull and fizzy hair.9. Hellmann’s is the most popular and leading brand of mayonnaise!
The most popular and leading brand of mayonnaise in United States, is Hellmann’s. Then comes Miracle, Duke’s, Kraft to name a few.
(Picture source: https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/472775-most-mayonnaise-eaten-in-3-minutes)