Russians eat more mayonnaise than anyone else

[Larry1]

Americans, sandwich lovers that we are, spend about $1.86 billion annually on mayonnaise, nearly half of that on Hellmann’s, according to data from the market research firm Nielsen.

That’s nothing compared with Russians, the world leaders when it comes to mayonnaise. They eat nearly twice what Americans do, or about 11 pounds per capita a year. Russians coat herring with mayonnaise and use it to bind together a Soviet-era salad built from chunks of potato and hard-boiled eggs with chicken, ham or bologna and flavored with mustard and pickles.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/15/dining/theres-no-mayonnaise-like-my-mayonnaise.html?_r=2

That is from an interesting article about mayonnaise in the New York Times.  The article goes into the history of mayonnaise. I had no idea that there were 600 types of bottled mayonnaises in the US by the 1920s. The mayonnaise shelves at my grocery store have mainly Hellman's and Kraft mayonnaise, along with a slightly different product called Miracle Whip. If I go to the Asian store I can find Japanese Kewpie brand mayonnaise, which is more tangy than our mayonnaise because rice wine vinegar is used in making it.

Ina Garten, the cookbook author and television personality, is a partisan of Hellmann’s, the brand she always suggests in her recipes.

... Because Ms. Garten thinks commercial mayonnaise can have an unpleasant viscosity, she may add white wine, lemon juice and some herbs to enliven it, or she will mix in coarse mustard and Dijon to spread over fish for baking or grilling.

“It’s basically a sauce that makes other things taste better,” she said. But she likes it right out of the jar on her bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches.

“Mayonnaise is one of those things people think will taste better if you make your own,” she said. “I don’t think that’s the case. If it’s perfectly good prepared, why bother?”

I love aioli, the garlicky mayonnaise of Provence and Spain.

You can make mayonnaise at home. For years I have felt a bit lazy for not doing so, but finally I have reconciled myself to always eating bottled mayo. Ina Garten's remark above makes me feel better about doing so.

Years ago I went out a few times with a chef. She came over to my place to cook dinner and made homemade mayo with a whisk. It looked like hard work.  At the time I didn't have a food processor.  She actually referred to the whisk by the cheffy name whip. She asked me, "do you have a whip".  I replied that I did but I didn't think we knew each other that well yet.

I don't eat a lot of mayo.  I use it in tuna salad. On those very rare occasions that I have French Fries I sometimes dip them in mayonnaise.

Does your FSUW wife or girlfriend use mayonnaise a lot? What does she think about American mayonnaise? Do you like mayo?

[Chicagoguy]

We buy the large sizes 

[calmissile]

yes, wifey used mayo on nearly everything she eats.  Recently she started making her own mayo.  Personally I prefer the bottled variety.  And definitely prefer bottled Tartar sauce to her home made mayo.  It seems that 6 year old Lisa prefers catsup to mayo on most things.

[SANDRO43]

She came over to my place to cook dinner and made homemade mayo with a whisk. It looked like hard work.

My mother used to make our own home mayo, and much better was it than the commercial variants .

It's hard work because, chemico-physically speaking, it is an emulsion, i.e. an unstable mixture of water (from egg yolks) and oil, so one has to provide precise percentages of each and blend them by vigorously stirring to prevent its exhibiting:

- Thixotropy (some non-Newtonian pseudoplastic fluids show a time-dependent change in viscosity - the longer the fluid undergoes shear stress through stirring, the lower its viscosity), or

- Anti-thixotropy (an increase in viscosity, or even solidification)

If either happened, my mother would say it 'had gone mad' and try to remedy by adding more of one ingredient and stirring again - she was not always successful and had to start all over again .

[Steamer]

When we were first married I bought some Hellmanns for the wife which went straight into the trash. After which I tried some Miracle Whip on her and was accused of trying to poison her. Fortunately we found some Russian markets that sell Russian Mayo (Chumak) and all is well.

[Larry1]

When we were first married ... I tried some Miracle Whip on her and was accused of trying to poison her.

I can kinda see her point about the Miracle Whip.

Fortunately we found some Russian markets that sell Russian Mayo (Chumak) and all is well.

That's great. I didn't realize there were any Russian markets around here. I knew only about the Polish Market in Troy and Hamtramck that sell some FSU foods.

[Boethius]

I don't like Russian mayos, they taste weird to me.  I prefer the taste of Hellman's.  However, homemade tastes best if using large quantities for a salad.
 
Sandro, if the eggs yolks are warmed in a bowl before adding the oil, and the oil addition is not overdone, generally, mayonnaise will emulsify.  If it doesn't, the best way to turn it around is to add equal parts of prepared mustard and the mayonnaise to a mixing bowl warmed in hot water, beat that, and then add the rest of the mayonnaise teaspoon by teaspoon.  It is very time consuming, which probably is why most people don't make homemade mayonnaise.
 
 

[mhr7]

When we were first married I bought some Hellmanns for the wife which went straight into the trash. After which I tried some Miracle Whip on her and was accused of trying to poison her. Fortunately we found some Russian markets that sell Russian Mayo (Chumak) and all is well.

Your wife must have better taste buds than me because I can't honestly tell a difference between the mayo here and what we have in the States. Then again, I wouldn't call myself a connoisseur.

[Boethius]

I could tell the difference.  Russian mayo is "tangier".  Our kids refused to eat it.

[Steamer]

That's great. I didn't realize there were any Russian markets around here. I knew only about the Polish Market in Troy and Hamtramck that sell some FSU foods.

Oh yeah. 10 mile and Greenfield, Orchard Lake rd and 14 mile and Ukrainian markets on Dequindre and 12 (?). They just don't call themselves "Russian" markets, it's "European" Markets. The wife likes the Polish market the best because everything is fresher and cheaper.

[Steamer]

That's great. I didn't realize there were any Russian markets around here. I knew only about the Polish Market in Troy and Hamtramck that sell some FSU foods.

Larry, at 10 and greenfield there's even a Russian bakery that makes great bread and some killer perogies and a Russian drug store.

[Larry1]

Larry, at 10 and greenfield there's even a Russian bakery that makes great bread and some killer perogies and a Russian drug store.

Thanks. I'll have to check it out. It's been awhile since I had pierogi that weren't from the freezer section of the grocery store.

[southernX]

hellmans is good

however in saying that we at home use bugger all mayonaise , a 450gm jar will last for ages , so my wife/child  is clearly an aberation in the consumption rate   
aoli is great with fish in tempura batter 

making home Made mayo is easy if you use the blender, less than A 5 min job even for a bad cook ,
it actually takes less  time to make the mayo than wash up the utensils after

SX

[Noch1]

My wife insisted on Hellman's when we went to the grocery store.
I eat very little of this stuff. In her salads, she uses plenty.
Her son loves it also. Sauces on everything seemed common
in Ukraine.

[Boethius]

Sauces on everything seemed common in Ukraine.

Not really, in fact, uncommon, unless you ate in a lot of restaurants.

[ML]

Ochka and her family were exception because they actually used very little mayo.  Her mother said it was 'unhealthy' so only used it when absolutely necessary.

Here in USA, she doesn't use it much at all . . . and when it is used, it's usually for something 'American' like tuna/egg  salad sandwiches or BLT sandwiches.

[2tallbill]

Not really, in fact, uncommon, unless you ate in a lot of restaurants.

Or holiday salads, during various holidays my wife will whip up several salads
and the holiday salads tend to have a lot more mayonnaise than we eat during
the non holidays. It's probably pretty common everywhere that people eat more
fat/sweets during holidays than they ordinarily would.

We do eat a lot of Smetana or sour cream year round and I can taste the difference
between what we have locally and Russian or Mexican sour cream.

American sour cream is thicker but less flavorful, where Russian sour cream is
slightly less thick with more flavor and Mexican sour cream has plenty of taste
but often times it's only slightly thicker than milk.