Ómós Digest #153: Mayo with a mist.
The secret sauce of secret sauces + a recipe for tarragon mayo. Written by Cúán Greene.
Mayonnaise is often considered the side condiment, the comforter. A rich and versatile addition to pretty much anything savoury, notably the bland. It too has lots of alternative gastronomic practices that can be learned elsewhere on the internet. Today though, we’re talking about mayo as the necessary enhancement to a very specific kind of culinary alchemy.
The idea for this article stemmed from a solitary meal at the wonderful Palmerston restaurant in Edinburgh last month. They cook the kind of food I want to eat when I am tired and in need of some care. This was the case that Sunday afternoon. Although I was dining alone, the whole roasted quail presented before me was in a deep 3-way conversation with the thin broth of beans it sat upon and a pungent green tarragon mayonnaise generously dolloped on top. The addition of mayonnaise might appear peculiar, however, its role here is indispensable. It's the defining component that transformed several incongruous parts into a triumphant dish. As I dived into the dish, dissecting the fowl caused the mayo to come into contact with the brothy beans. This is where the unlikely alchemy takes place. Clean and brothy is suddenly replaced by creamy and aromatic. The egg and oil in the mayo melds with the stock and juice, while the tarragon releases its colour and delicious aniseed flavour. This now emulsified ‘sauce’ is the perfect complement to the roast bird, beautifully cut through with a side of roasted Marconi pepper and a glass of Slovenian Furmint. I immediately regretted the decision to refuse an extra portion of bread and reversed it.