Mayo murder mystery
From shunning “breastaurants” like Hooters to eschewing breakfast cereal, millennials have been blamed for the demise of a plethora of products and cultural phenomena. And now, as a Philadelphia writer posits, a dearth of mayonnaise-laden salads at summer cookouts can be attributed to them, too.
Sandy Hingston’s column condemning millennials for turning their backs on mayonnaise in favour of “identity condiments” recently caused a stir on social media, eliciting such responses as: “I honestly cannot believe this article isn’t a parody.”
And: “Old people: MILLENNIALS ARE ALL FAT AND LAZY! Also old people: WHY AREN’T YOU MILLENNIALS EATING THIS ULTRA-CONCENTRATED FORM OF CALORIES WITH NO FLAVOUR?!”
Hingston backs up her claim of mayo murder primarily with anecdotes. Over the years, her contributions to holiday buffet tables – including mayonnaise-laced potato, macaroni, chicken and Waldorf salads – have gone increasingly untouched. Once deemed delectable, the classic emulsion is now considered a relic, Hingston concludes.
She found the culprit in the “young ‘uns” and their penchant for… wait for it: “four different kinds of mustard, three ketchups (one made from, I kid you not, bananas), seven sorts of salsa, kimchi, wasabi, relishes of every ilk and hue.”
Mayonnaise, described by legendary French chef Michel Roux in his treatise on eggs as “the key to taste heaven,” is too drab for modern palates, she surmises. “Good ol’ mayo has become the Taylor Swift of condiments.”
But are the ceaselessly scapegoated millennials really to blame for mayonnaise’s plummeting popularity? According to Business Insider, an increasing number of shoppers are eliminating mayo from their diets. In the U.S., sales decreased by 6.7 per cent from 2012 to 2017, while prices fell nearly one per cent from the first quarter of 2017 to 2018.
While it may be fun to blame the younger generation, perhaps some consideration should be given to the fact that the condiment market as a whole has become highly saturated, meaning that shoppers have many more options and makers “are being forced to venture outside of the familiar eggy comforts of the off-white condiment in hopes of surviving and growing sales.”
But don’t sound the death knell just yet.
Last spring, cult favourite mayonnaise brand, Kewpie, opened up Mayo Terrace, a museum/factory tour dedicated to the egg, oil and vinegar concooction in Tokyo, Japan. This year alone has seen the advent of Heinz Mayoketchup and mayonnaise ice cream – although to be fair, the latter was met predominantly with disgust.