a famous sauce which is, essentially, an emulsion of olive oil and vinegar (or lemon juice) stabilized with egg yolk and seasoned to taste (usually with salt, pepper, mustard). There are many theories about the origin of its name. For example, Stobart (1980) listed four principal theories. However, as Ayto (1993) puts it:
the explanation now generally accepted, based on the early spelling mahonnaise, is that it originally meant literally ‘of Mahon’, and that the sauce was so named to commemorate the taking of Port Mahon, capital of the island of Minorca, by the duc de Richelieu in 1756 (presumably Richelieu's chef, or perhaps even the duke himself, created the sauce). English borrowed the word from French in the 1840s (its first recorded user was that enthusiastic gastronome, William Makepeace Thackeray).
As a French word mayonnaise, meaning the sauce, first appeared in print in 1806. However, an interesting curiosity is its appearance in the phrase ‘mayonnaise de poulet’ in a German book of 1804—see Höfler (1996). Certainly, the word has appeared as both an adjective and a noun since the early 19th century, and still does. As an English noun, it has been prominent in the phrase Egg mayonnaise, a dish popular in Britain in the decades after the Second World War.
See also aïoli; greensauce; rémoulade; tartare.
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
Ayto, John (1993), The Diner's Dictionary, Oxford: OUP.
Höfler, Manfred (1996), Dictionnaire de l'art culinaire français, Aix-en-Provence: Edisud.
Stobart, Tom (1980), The Cook's Encyclopaedia, London: B. T. Batsford. Also repr 1999, London: Grub Street.
