Dear Sweetlaren,

here's the lowdown on mayo. and its

you must have a bowl and a hand whisk or beater and lots of elbow grease but its worth it I promise.

1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp mustard powder
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp wine vinegar
1 cup mild tasting oil eg: sunflower

beat up the yolk with the dry ingredients
add half the lemon juice/vinegar mixture to the yolk mixture and beat till incorporated

NOTE:

you are now going to make an emulsion not a solution . The chemistry is very interesting . The Lecithin in the yolk acts as a liaison between the oil and the lemon juice . Remember that you have a large amount of oil that you want to mix with a small amount of lemon jiuce thorougly and this is the ONLY way to do it . If you throw the whole lot in a blender you will end up with a mess so here goes

you add the oil to the yolk lemon mixture initially a few drops at a time and after each addition you whisk to incorporate the oil . You continue doing this by adding not more than a teaspoon of oil at a time and whisk after each addition thorougly . you will note that the mixture begins to get thick and come together as you add more and more oil . Once you have added 1/2 cup of oil you can add it in bigger amounts whisking each time till it is entirely incorporated into the emulsion . When it is all added , you will have a luxuriously thick goo to which you add the desired amount of sweetner to taste , I add up to 3 tblsp aspartame . you can at this stage add 2 finely chopped garlic cloves to make aoili .

I must tell you that if you add the oil too quickly , the whole thing will split after a day or two so patience is a virtue

hope you like it