Mauritian Mayonnaise

Ingredients:

2 large egg yolks
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
275ml vegetable oil
white wine vinegar

Method:

Add the egg yolks, along with the garlic, mustard, pepper and salt to a large bowl. Mix together with an electric whisk or hand blender set on high. Whisking constantly, begin adding a few drops of the oil then add a few more drops of oil. Keep adding the oil a little at a time, mixing all the time and allowing the oil to incorporate into the mix before adding more oil. You will soon see the mixture thicken appreciably. If, at any point, it seems to thicken too much add a little vinegar to thin it. Then continue adding oil and thinning with the vinegar until all the oil is used up. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

There is no real secret to making mayonnaise, it just takes patience and if you follow the instructions above you will get a perfect mayonnaise every time. However, it will not keep and ideally needs to be made just before serving. However, if something goes wrong and the mixture splits or separates you can recover it by adding an egg yolk to a fresh bowl. If you then gradually add the split mayonnaise to this, whisking constantly you will 'recover' the mixture and end-up with perfect mayonnaise.