{"id":1164188,"date":"2026-08-23T04:03:54","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T04:03:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1164188\/"},"modified":"2026-08-23T04:03:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T04:03:54","slug":"this-is-the-birthplace-of-mayonnaise-and-its-not-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1164188\/","title":{"rendered":"This Is the Birthplace of Mayonnaise\u2014and It\u2019s Not France"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Mayonnaise is made with an egg yolk and olive oil, a pinch of salt, and a few drops of lemon,” says Victor Bayo, a private Menorcan chef who collaborates with C\u00f3mete Menorca<\/a>, which offers cooking workshops and gastronomic experiences. Trees blow in the breeze, birds chirp, and the dappled sunlight kisses our skin as six of us observe the chef and snap photos during our outdoor mayonnaise-making class.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Then, we put on our black aprons and make this sauce in the traditional style\u2014using a ceramic mortar and a wooden pestle (and getting an arm workout in the process). The setting is idyllic, yet not where you might expect to learn about this creamy condiment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The French are often credited as the inventors of the recipe, but it’s a heavily debated topic. A handwritten recipe and other documents provide evidence for the argument that mayonnaise was actually created in Menorca<\/a>, the second-largest of Spain’s Balearic Islands<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mayo’s Menorcan Origins\"A<\/p>\n

A bowl of mayo from C\u00f3mete Menorca.
Credit: C\u00f3mete Menorca<\/p>\n

What we now recognize as mayonnaise was initially called salsa de peix crua, or raw fish sauce. The recipe can be found in the cookbook “Receptari Caules. Cuina Menorquina Del Segle XVIII<\/a>,” a collection of 251 recipes from the 18th century.<\/p>\n

In this recipe, the sauce is made by beating egg yolks while slowly adding oil, along with onion, parsley, garlic, pepper, and vinegar. Mayonnaise also appears in more than a dozen recipes in the 18th-century book “Art de la Cuina,” or “The Art of Cooking,” by a Franciscan friar, says Antonio Juaneda, cofounder and co-owner of C\u00f3mete Menorca.<\/p>\n

Before mayonnaise was used as a condiment, it was initially used as an ointment. According to Si\u00f3n Bosch, cofounder, co-owner, and general manager of C\u00f3mete Menorca, the oldest reference to mayonnaise dates back to 1720, when it’s mentioned as a medicinal ointment for burns.<\/p>\n

History and Theories on the Name\"Calesfonts<\/p>\n

Calesfonts fishing port, Es Castell in Mao, Mahon, Menorca, Spain.
Credit: imageBROKER\/Martina Katz\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

So, why are the French associated with inventing the recipe if there’s evidence mayo originated elsewhere? The French took control of Menorca from 1756 to 1763, and, as Juaneda tells me, Louis-Fran\u00e7ois-Armand du Plessis, Duke de Richelieu, the commander of the French troops, organized a banquet to commemorate and celebrate the occupation of the island. At that banquet, mayonnaise was used as a cold sauce to accompany fish.<\/p>\n

As for how this sauce got its name, there are a couple of theories. One is a romanticized version that says the sauce is named after the duke’s lover. In a letter, the duke supposedly mentions he enjoyed his stay in Mah\u00f3n, the capital of Menorca, and had a fantastic and marvelous sauce. Since his lover was married, and they had to keep their relationship a secret, he couldn’t name it after her. So, he called it mahonesa, explains Juaneda.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The other common account is that the duke liked the sauce and named it after Mahon and the port, which they had recently conquered and was also strategically important for commerce, says Juaneda.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The French then brought the sauce back to France\u2014and the rest is history. “At the time, Menorca wasn’t known for its gastronomy, while France was, and when the French began using mahonesa in France, they even changed the name because it was easier in French,” says Juaneda. “The ‘H’ sound for Mah\u00f3n did not really exist in the same way in French.”<\/p>\n

How to Make Mayonnaise\"A<\/p>\n

A mayo cooking class.
Credit: C\u00f3mete Menorca<\/p>\n

Making mayonnaise\u2014the Menorcan way\u2014only requires a few ingredients: egg yolks, olive oil, a couple of drops of lemon juice, and a pinch of salt. “The most important thing for making successful mayonnaise is to be consistent when stirring and patient when adding the oil, so the egg protein always absorbs the oil evenly,” says Bayo. Add the egg yolk and a pinch of salt to a mortar, and whisk with a pestle (or blend with an immersion blender) without stopping while drizzling oil, adds Bayo. “The difference between making mayonnaise traditionally with a mortar and pestle or with an electric blender is it’s much silkier and creamier by hand,” he notes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And how do you know when the mayonnaise is ready? It’s simple: When you put the pestle upright in the mortar and it doesn’t fall over, says Bayo. Menorcans often add additional ingredients for flavor\u2014basil or saffron for savory or honey and cheese for sweet\u2014after the mayonnaise is made.<\/p>\n

Read the original article on Travel & Leisure<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“Mayonnaise is made with an egg yolk and olive oil, a pinch of salt, and a few drops…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1164189,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5309],"tags":[315997,41168,2000,299,316000,36,63782,72892,5691,315999,315998],"class_list":["post-1164188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-france","tag-antonio-juaneda","tag-egg-yolk","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-fish-sauce","tag-france","tag-mayonnaise","tag-menorca","tag-olive-oil","tag-pinch-of-salt","tag-victor-bayo"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117142846839138107","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1164188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1164188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1164188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1164189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1164188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1164188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1164188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}