Hamptons Epicure: Turkey Sandwich Time – Best Mayonnaise to Gobble

As many of our readers know, I’m in the process of writing a cookbook, with Hillary Davis, about local, seasonal eating in the Hamptons. She’s a famous Francophile, I’m a farm girl. Naturally, our book will include a recipe for homemade mayonnaise. East End eggs are some of the best.

Yes, real mayonnaise is made with raw egg yolks. Not for you? Turns out you’re not alone. Nowadays many cookbooks recommended “homemade or Hellman’s.”

I know that I can buy Hellman’s mayonnaise on the East End, but is it my favorite alternative to homemade? Answering this question required some research. I know that there’s a dark swath through this great country of ours where people think that Miracle Whip can be used as a substitute for mayonnaise. Thankfully, the Hamptons is not in that dark place. Many Southerners favor Duke’s. I’d like to try that one sometime. But I don’t order foodstuffs through the interwebs, as a rule. I went to a nearby King Kullen, a Stop & Shop, an IGA and local health food store Provisions and bought every brand of mayonnaise I could find in glass jars. (Eating food from a plastic container was off the table.)

Neither the Francophile nor the farm girl could stomach eating mayo straight-up, so we decided to use it in a very simple preparation—by mixing a teaspoon of each mayo with a tablespoon of unseasoned, diced, hard-boiled, local egg white and spreading that on unseasoned melba toast. Of course, the egg whites came from many different, local eggs, much mixed—very scientific. (Well, science-y, at least.) We prepared each other’s sample while the tester stood with her back to the process.

Here are our findings:

Our #1 Choice

Hillary: Woodstock Organic Mayonnaise
“It’s good—sort of lemony.”

Stacy: Woodstock Organic Mayonnaise
“Creamy and lemony.”

Our #2 Choices

Hillary: Hain Safflower Mayonnaise
“I like the flavor, it’s a little oily, not neutral.”

Stacy: Hellmann’s Real Mayonnaise
“Neutral, okay.”

Our #3 Choices

Hillary: Hellmann’s Real Mayonnaise
“Has good flavor and is a little saltier than the others.”

Stacy: Sir Kensington’s Organic Mayonnaise
“Neutral in flavor.”

Other brands in our tasting that did not place with either of us: Chosen Foods Coconut Oil Mayo Traditional; Primal Kitchen Avocado Oil Mayo; Sir Kensington’s Avocado Oil Mayonnaise.

You may try this at home.

Follow Stacy’s foodie informed and opinionated adventures on Twitter @hamptonsepicure.