Make mayo; hold the eggs

David Leite of indexed blog Leite’s Culinaria  is making mayonnaise, but without one major ingredient: eggs. The mayonnaise is made with milk instead, and although it may sound strange, he assures us it is a delicious base for a variety of dips and sauces. Leite discovered this unusual condiment when he was traveling in Portugal a few years back. The “ghostly white” substance was used as the base for a delicious green olive dip.

Leite was perplexed by the recipe that he obtained from the Portugese chef. How could it be mayonnaise if it didn’t have eggs? Indeed, some of his friends suggested that it wasn’t even an emulsion but more of a oil-flavored milk sauce. So Leite turned to food scientist Shirley Corriher for help. Corriher assured Leite that this was a bona fide emulsion, noting that in any emulsion, the liquid “has to break down into finer and finer droplets until it gets “juicy,” or looser,” which allows the oil to find a home between the droplets and thereby thicken it. Milk contains natural emulsifiers, Corriher continued, which makes it easier to form the emulsion. The garlic “helps to make a sturdier base before adding the oil.”

Leite notes that equipment plays a big role in creating a successful emulsion, and that an immersion blender or blender is required to achieve the desired consistency. He offers four variations on this unusual mayonnaise: cilantro and ginger, anchovy, curry, and sun-dried tomato. Amanda Hesser of indexed blog Food52 tried the recipe and found the resulting product “reveletory: sauce that had the texture of buttercream and the clear flavor of an infusion. There was fragrance from garlic, tang from lemon juice, and silkiness from the butterfat emulsifying with the oil.” Have you tried milk mayonnaise?

Photo of Green olive dip from indexed blog Leite’s Culinaria