Zghug Mayonnaise

April 26, 2018

Sauce/Condiment

Zghug has become my favorite herbal hot sauce, not because I make it – I make it because I like it so much – but because, for me, a bit of (or a lot of) Zghug is an exciting and delicious way to wake up scrambled eggs, an omelet, any type of soup, grilled fish, meat, chicken or vegetables, dips for snaking, like hummus, or even pesto or marinara pasta sauces.  Another words, I could add Zghug to anything; in fact a favorite snack is some hard cheese on a cracker with a dollop of Zghug.

And, when I make sandwiches for my SergeAir flights to the Cape for fresh seafood, I use our Zghug Mayonnaise. We make our own mayonnaise at Serevan (you should make your own as well) and we prefer to use the food processor since we make large batches, forgoing the traditional bowl and whisk with lots of elbow grease.  An immersion or a standing blender would also work well. When making smaller batches, I prefer to use the blender.

Once you’ve used our Zghug Mayonnaise, I am 99% certain you will never again use regular mayonnaise for your sandwiches!

When making mayonnaise it’s important to remember:

YOU COULD HURRY LOVE INTO A ONE-NIGHT STAND,

BUT YOU COULD HURRY MAYONNAISE ONLY INTO AN OILY, LIQUID MESS

So, take your time and pay attention and you’ll be successful.

A mayonnaise is a simple emulsion, which means it’s a liquid in which fatty molecules are suspended in water molecules, and they remain suspended, giving the liquid a texture similar to whipped cream.  The emulsifying agents in mayonnaise are the proteins in the egg, primarily lecithin, which have lipophilic and hydrophilic tenancies, that is to say, once side of the protein likes water and the other end prefers fat.

But the proteins get overwhelmed very easily, I suppose attracting both water and fat molecules isn’t an easy task and takes some getting used to.  So, when making an emulsion, it’s imperative to start introducing the oil into the egg slowly and carefully.  Once the emulsion has taken shape, the oil could be added in larger quantities, but still in a thin stream,  until the emulsion has absorbed all the oil.

Often egg based emulsions are seasoned after the emulsion is made, since acidity and salt damage the egg’s composition, hence its proteins.  But because we use a food processor, which speeds things up exponentially, we season the egg at the start and adjust the seasoning again once the emulsion is made.

If you’d prefer a vegan version of our Zghug Mayonnaise, follow this recipe from seriouseats.com and add a tablespoon of our Zghug.

 

 


Ingredients

1 Tblsp Zghug

1 Whole Organic Egg

1 tsp Salt or more to taste

1 tsp Mustard (optional)

1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper (optional)

1 Cup Neutral Oil, Grape Seed, Vegetable, Olive Oil isn’t suitalbe

1 Clove Garlic, Peeled

1 Lemon

 


Direction

Add the Zghug, egg, garlic clove, juice of half of the lemon, salt, and if using the pepper and mustard to the food processor. Start the processor, and very slowly, in continual drop by drop manner, begin to add the oil to the egg mixture in the processor.

Once you notice the mixture thickening and changing color, which indicates the emulsion has formed, in a steady thin stream, continue to add the remaining oil to the mayonnaise

 

Once the mayonnaise is made, turn off the food processor right away;  unnecessary agitation and heat will break the emulsion and your Zghug Mayonnaise will turn into an oily liquid mess!

If this were to happen, don’t panic, and don’t scream %#@! Just empty to oily liquid into a clean bowl and rinse out the bowl of the food processor. Start the process again with a fresh egg, and repeat by adding your green, oily mess very slowly into the egg.  Look at the bright side: you don’t have to worry about measuring anything or adding seasoning again, since your oily liquid mess is already seasoned.  You could always add more Zghug, though.