Chef Isabel
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Salsa Mahonesa de Menorca
Created by
Mahonesa belongs to Menorca: egg yolk and mild olive oil worked into a pale, glossy sauce, with the first oil added drop by drop so the emulsion holds.
Sauces & Condiments
Spanish
Make Ahead
Budget Friendly
Picnic
15 min
Active Time
0 min cook•15 min total
YieldAbout 225ml, 8 servings
Salsa mahonesa is Menorca's pale emulsion of egg yolk and olive oil, sharpened with lemon and salt. It is smooth, glossy, and mild enough to sit beside fish, potatoes, vegetables, and cold meats. There is no garlic here. Add it and you've walked into the territory of allioli, another sauce.
The first spoonful of oil decides it. I beat that oil into the yolk by drops, waiting until each one disappears before adding the next. That slow beginning builds the emulsion, giving the rest of the oil somewhere to settle. Once the sauce is thick and holding its shape, you may pour in a thread. Not before.
Use fresh, mild olive oil. A fiercely bitter oil will make a fiercely bitter mahonesa, and no amount of beating can argue with it. If good mild olive oil is difficult to find where you are, use equal parts mild olive oil and sunflower oil, as many Spanish home kitchens do. The sauce will be paler and more neutral, with less of Menorca's olive character, but it will still be sound. No hace falta haber pisado España.
My Margin carries one correction beside this sauce: "too fast, begin again with one yolk." A split mahonesa is not lost. Beat it slowly into a fresh yolk and it comes back together. Pésalo, no lo adivines, and keep the oil thread fine.
Mahonesa is linked by name to Mahón, Menorca's great port, and a familiar account says the sauce travelled to France after the Duke of Richelieu captured the town in 1756. The surviving record does not settle whether the sauce was first made there or whether its French name arose another way, so its precise birthplace remains disputed. In Spain both mahonesa and mayonesa are used, but the spelling with an h keeps Mahón's claim in plain sight.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
large egg yolk
Quantity
1 (about 20g)
very fresh or pasteurized, at room temperature
mild extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
200ml
at room temperature
fresh lemon juice
Quantity
10ml
strained and divided
fine sea salt
Quantity
2g
lukewarm water (optional)
Quantity
5ml
for loosening
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| large egg yolkvery fresh or pasteurized, at room temperature | 1 (about 20g) |
| mild extra virgin olive oilat room temperature | 200ml |
| fresh lemon juicestrained and divided | 10ml |
| fine sea salt | 2g |
| lukewarm water (optional)for loosening | 5ml |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy ceramic mortar and pestle, about 500ml capacity
- •Medium balloon whisk and narrow 1-litre bowl, as an alternative
- •Small pouring jug with a fine spout
Instructions
- 1
Temper the ingredients
Bring the yolk, oil, and lemon juice to the same cool room temperature. Set a clean, completely dry mortar or narrow bowl on a folded cloth so it cannot move. Water left in the bowl and a cold yolk make the first emulsion less dependable.
A heavy ceramic mortar and pestle is the Menorcan home method. A balloon whisk and narrow bowl work well too, provided the bowl stays still. - 2
Beat the yolk
Put the yolk, 5ml of the lemon juice, and the salt in the mortar or bowl. Work them together for 30 seconds, using steady circles with the pestle or brisk strokes with the whisk, until the yolk looks smooth and slightly thickened.
- 3
Build the emulsion
Add the first 30ml of oil one drop at a time while beating continuously. Do not add the next drop until the last has disappeared. This beginning decides the sauce: it builds the structure that holds all the oil to come. Rush it now and you will have oil beside yolk, not mahonesa.
- 4
Pour a thin thread
When the mixture is visibly thick, glossy, and clinging to the pestle or whisk, add the oil in a very thin, steady thread while you keep beating. After about 100ml of oil has gone in, beat in the remaining 5ml lemon juice, then continue with the rest of the oil. The finished mahonesa should hold soft ridges without feeling stiff.
If the sauce splits, put a fresh room-temperature yolk in a clean bowl and beat the broken sauce into it drop by drop. It is recoverable. Nadie nace sabiendo. - 5
Adjust and chill
Taste the mahonesa. If it is thicker than you want, beat in 5ml lukewarm water. Transfer it at once to a clean covered container and refrigerate until needed. Serve it with boiled or fried potatoes, fish, shellfish, vegetables, or cold meats. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Chef Tips
- •Choose a fresh, mild olive oil and taste it before you begin. A very peppery or bitter oil dominates the egg and can taste harsher as it is beaten.
- •If your only olive oil is strong, use 100ml of it with 100ml sunflower oil. This common home-kitchen compromise makes a milder, paler sauce and gives up some olive character.
- •The first 30ml of oil must go in drop by drop. Once the sauce thickens and clings to the whisk, a thin thread is safe. Pouring the oil all at once is not a shortcut. It is a bowl of separated ingredients.
- •Do not add garlic and continue calling the sauce mahonesa. Garlic belongs to allioli, whose traditional foundation is garlic, salt, and oil.
- •Because the yolk remains raw, use pasteurized egg for young children, pregnant people, older adults, and anyone with a weakened immune system. Keep the sauce at 4°C or colder and discard it after two days.
- •Mahonesa does not freeze well. The emulsion separates as it thaws, so make only what you will use.
Advance Preparation
- •Set the egg, oil, and lemon juice out for 20 minutes before mixing so they reach the same cool room temperature.
- •Mahonesa can be made up to 24 hours ahead. Refrigerate it promptly in a clean, tightly covered container and use within two days.
- •For a picnic, carry it in an insulated cooler with ice packs. Do not leave it unrefrigerated for more than two hours, or more than one hour when the temperature is above 32°C.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 27g)
Calories
210 calories
Total Fat
23 g
Saturated Fat
3 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
19 g
Cholesterol
27 mg
Sodium
100 mg
Total Carbohydrates
0 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
0 g
Protein
0 g
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