Mayonnaise is surely in the same bracket as ketchup as far as condiment popularity goes. Brown sauce and mustard are in the Championship while the white stuff and the red stuff duke it out in the Sauce Premier League.
It’s a common feature in sandwiches, salads, as a base for caesar dressing, and as a dip for chips.
Much like other heavily refined sauces, it can become kind of disgusting if you stop and think about it. Really it’s just a load of white gunge, and it hasn’t escaped some people’s notice.
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As far as the ick factor goes, mayonnaise is probably having a harder time with the general public than ketchup.
If you’re not already grossed-out by mayonnaise or you otherwise don’t have the strongest constitution, we’d recommend sterling clear of this video explaining how mayo is made.
Posted to TikTok by the account @bentleey_eats, it shows the various pre-blend ingredients getting somewhat inefficiently whisked together.
The foodie page’s video shows eggs, oil, some mustard and vinegar getting blitzed together, quickly resulting into the thick white goo we know and love.
As is often the case on TikTok, it’s drawn some polarised reactions.
"So delicious!” said one enthusiastic reply. “The type of egg you use really matters. I like the deep yellow yolks, it almost looks orange."
"Non-aesthetic? really?" another sneered. "I think emulsification is one of the most beautiful culinary processes on Earth."
Some thoroughly disagree, with the vaguely-unsavoury process being enough for some sensitive souls to swear off it entirely.
"Learning this in cooking class made me stop eating mayo," said someone on X.
Another agreed: "This is God's way of telling me to stop eating mayonnaise."
"You keep that to yourself, I don’t need to know about that," said a third.
Thankfully, plenty more comments were on the more sensible side of things.
"When I found out mayo was nothing but eggs and oil… it didn’t stop me from making one sandwich," said one unfazed viewer.
One element that went over people’s heads was the crux of the video: it’s really simple to make your own mayonnaise at home.
If you’re keen to give it a try, check out BBC Good Food’s recipe.
Rachael Davis