France and the Alps · Volume 15, Sauce, the Brigade and the Bistro Underneath
Oeuf mayonnaise
Paris
Illustration
- Time
- 20 minutes
- Researched
- 14 sources cited
Oeuf mayonnaise's first documented print appearance is 1906, becoming a bistro fixture in the 1910s; it is defended today by the Association de Sauvegarde de l'Oeuf Mayonnaise, founded by the critic Claude Lebey, which runs an annual world championship.
As tradition built it
Serves 4. About 20 minutes.
Ingredients
- 8 eggs
- 1 egg yolk, for the mayonnaise
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 200 ml neutral oil
- to taste a little vinegar, salt
Method
- Boil the eggs for exactly 9 to 10 minutes for a fully set but not chalky yolk. Cool in iced water, then peel and halve.
- Whisk the egg yolk with the mustard, then add the oil in a very thin stream, whisking constantly, until a thick, glossy mayonnaise forms. Season with a little vinegar and salt.
- Spoon generously over the halved eggs. Serve simply, with nothing to distract from the two components.
What a modern chef changes
An egg cooked to a single precise texture throughout, and a mayonnaise stabilised by a different method
Rung 3
Method
- Cook the eggs sous vide at 63°C for 45 minutes rather than boiling. This gives an even, custard-set texture from edge to centre, avoiding the slightly chalky ring a boiled yolk often develops, and is exactly reproducible every time.
- Build the mayonnaise in a high-power blender rather than by hand, which produces a noticeably more stable, finer emulsion and lets you work in a little of the reserved egg-cooking liquid for extra savouriness the traditional version does not have access to.
- Dehydrate a few thin shallot rings to a genuine crisp for texture on top, a modern contrast the plain traditional dish, by design, does not include.