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Sauce

Lemon Mayonnaise

A creamy sauce made with egg yolks, olive oil, lemon juice, zest, cayenne, salt, and white pepper.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Lemon and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

Lemon Mayonnaise

Ingredients

Directions

Make the mayonnaise

  1. Whisk together all ingredients except for oil in a large bowl.

  2. One tablespoon at a time, slowly drizzle in oil while continually and vigorously whisking. Do not stop whisking, or the mayonnaise may separate.

Store

  1. Keep refrigerated for up to 3 weeks in a nonreactive container.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

223Calories
7 gProtein
19 gFat
7 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  2. Olive + lemontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,922 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  3. Olive + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together30,263 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Lemon + white peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,658 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Pepper + white peppertop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,478 recipes

    Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Egg yolks
Lecithin in the yolks emulsifies the oil and water, giving the mayonnaise its thick body.
Extra-virgin olive oil
Forms tiny droplets suspended in the yolk mixture, providing richness and a silky texture.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and balances the richness of the oil.

The step that matters

Drizzling the oil slowly while whisking. Adding oil one tablespoon at a time while whisking constantly lets the yolk lecithin coat tiny oil droplets before they join. Adding oil too fast or stopping can break the emulsion so it separates.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, olive, lemon, pepper):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Dillfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, olive, lemon, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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