‘The Duke’s Mayonnaise Cookbook’
Out June 30 By Ashley Strickland Freeman Grand Central Publishing 256 pages, $28
Freeman was already a Duke’s loyalist. “To me, it’s the closest thing to homemade. It doesn’t have any sugar in it, which is rare for a commercial mayo,” she said. “I don’t know their formula; it’s top secret. But it’s super-creamy with the perfect hint of tanginess. It has a luscious mouth feel.”
Freeman sought out recipes drawn from her own background and travels. She already knew of the many spreads, sauces and dressings that can be made with mayonnaise as the foundation, as well as the condiment’s integral nature to deviled eggs, chicken salad and pimento cheese.
But Freeman’s digging and recipe testing also yielded mayonnaise’s star turns in baking (muffins, waffles, biscuits, banana bread, scones, doughnuts), in entrees (kebabs, crab cakes, roasted chicken, chicken Parmesan, cottage pie) and in desserts (cupcakes, brownies, cookies and pound cakes). Then there is mayonnaise’s adhesive powers in coating chicken tenders, fish filets, pork chops and Mexican street corn.
Surprising applications: as an ingredient for pasta making and in pie crusts. Coating onion rings in mayonnaise and panko bread crumbs creates superlative fried onion rings. And whisking a little mayonnaise into eggs before scrambling results in creamy and fluffy eggs.
Freeman calculated she went through 26 (48-ounce) jars of Duke’s to test her recipes. In the end she feels she has created something special that will go a long way to promoting the mayonnaise to the uninitiated. And spreading the Southern food gospel in general.
“People are finally catching on that it’s such a special cuisine,” she said.