It wasn't until recently that I became aware of the violently anti-mayonnaise underground at work in our fine country. I can certainly understand the hatred of cilantro, the soapy-tasting herb of doom that has plagued many a Mexican recipe I've wanted to try, but even I have been able to get past that... for the most part.But I thought anti-mayo nuts were just that. A fringe sect of our society that professed to hate the creamy glue that holds together our various "salads" all the while downing forkfuls of Mom's potato salad and Aunt Barb's macaroni & tuna side dish.
Recent encounters on – of all things – a Eurotrash film message board have convinced me that this is more than a mere sect. This is a movement bent on recruiting nothing less than the leader of the free world to their evil cause! Then again, Obama and Biden both pledge to prefer their burgers cooked medium... yet another piece of information I would have liked to have had on hand during the recent election.
Despite these nay-sayers beating their chests in anti-mayo gloom, I'm glad to see that manufacturers are still pushing the creamy mayo envelope with new and wonderful flavors for us to try. Naturally, we're all aware of Baconnaise by this point, thanks to recent appearances on both Oprah and The Daily Show (just to name a few).
But yesterday, while I was out searching for tartar sauce I stumbled upon McIlhenny Spicy Mayo, "made with Blue Plate Real Mayonnaise and flavored with TABASCO brand Pepper Sauce... TABASCO brand Spicy Mayonnaise features the zesty flavor of south Louisiana."
Since I was in a rush and couldn't find the tartar sauce I was looking for I ended up leaving the store empty-handed, but after discovering this and the store's wide selection of Mexican condiments, cheeses and creams I have a feeling I'll be going back.
6 comments:
I think the inventors of Baconaisse should be doing jail time. To take something so good and pure as bacon and use it for evil, as a nasty sandwich spread is blasphemy . Also, we are not as "nuts" as you think and the times our a changing, my friend. We really do have both the leader of the free world (Barrack Obama) and the leader of the culinary world (Rachael Ray) on the record as being anti-mayo. You have various groups forming on facebook and Myspace. You have newspaper columnist Charles Memminger, (who you reference thru a link in this post) doing some fantastic work out in Hawaii. It's certainly not an "evil cause" as you reference in your link. I really like your blog but this is a holy war and it sounds like you are on the wrong side of this issue.... soon to be the losing side. Also, since you describe mayo as holding together our various "salads," I need to say that we really need to stop calling it that. A salad is a healthy mixture of vegetables. Why would adding liquid cholesterol to chickenm magically turn it into a chicken SALAD. Just a marketing ploy to make people feel better about themselves for eating so unhealthy. More truths on this issue uncovered at www.holdthatmayo.com .
Not sure I want to be on the winning side of anything where Rachel Ray is considered "the leader of the culinary world". Shudder. You can pry my jar of mayo from my cold, dead hand my friend, my cold, dead hand.
Ha, makes sense. Pro-mayo people usually do not like Rachael Ray. But she speaks the language that every-day Americans can relate to.
Keep up the good work. The rest of your blog is really strong. And regarding the mayo post, regardless of your stance, I am glad you are helping to bring this issue to the forefront. (and inadvertantly fueling the seeds of discontent)
1. "Anonymous" is amusingly unaware of the well-known fact that there is no bacon in baconnaise. It is a bacon-FLAVORED mayonnaise.. No bacon was harmed in the making of the product. Clearly, "Anonymous" loves bacon as much as anyone does (and should) and knows that bacon makes everything better...so why can this person not see the obvious logic that mayo is better when it's bacony, especially without having even tried the stuff?
2. For "Anonymous" to contend that bacon and mayonnaise do not belong together is to deny one of the most all-American sandwiches ever to exist, the BLT, in which mayonnaise is an unlettered but unanimously agreed-upon standard ingredient.
"Anonymous", if you happen to live in the Baltimore area as The Hungover Gourmet and I do, I invite you to visit the fourth Baltimore edition of the Bacon & Beer Happy Hour, Monday, June 1st at Bad Decisions at Fleet and Washington Streets. There, you and I can meet over a couple of beers and a lot of bacon, and I will help you see that bacon is not to be segregated from other foods; rather, it is to enhance other foods. ALL other foods.
Sincerely,
Spam
Bacon Bishop of Baltimore
http://ministryofbacon.com/
One of these days I'd like to try "fresh" mayo, the kind made on the spot with eggs and oil. Have you ever whipped up your own mayo? I've never tried it fresh. Mom is a jar person.
Mayo is not evil. From what I've read, Baconnaise is actually vegetarian!
Also... I may have to move to Baltimore because of the simple fact they have a bar named "Bad Decisions".
That bacon and beer happy hour sounds really cool. I am not sure if I can make it all the way down from Philly but I would love to see that trend expand to other cities.You have my utmost respect for celebrating this "gift from God" during your local happy hour. I would imagine people get along really well during these events. Geographic areas that are void of bacon, like the Middle east, tend to be serious war zones so I imagine the exact opposite would occur at bad decisions on a night like that. We (holdthatmayo.com) only want bacon segregated from mayo. As far as the BLT's , we contend that mayo is not necessary. The tomato will keep the sandwich from getting dry. As an added bonus, you will not have soggy bread. There are plenty of anti-mayites who eat BLT's. They just have to say the 3 magic words.."hold the mayo." . Last I checked, I did not see any "M" in that acronym.
Peace,
Craig
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