Duke’s Mayonnaise is a Southern staple

quite tedious to perfect.”

A recipe developer, food stylist and cookbook contributor, Freeman grew up in Savannah, Ga., and lives in Charleston, S.C. Duke’s was the only mayonnaise she knew because it was the only one her mother used. Her mother’s pantry is lined with old glass jars of Duke’s mayo with its familiar marigold lids.

In 2017, when Freeman was considering her own cookbook project, she knew she wanted the subject to be something dear to her heart. “One day I opened my refrigerator door, and there was a Duke’s Mayonnaise jar staring me in the face,” she said. “A light bulb went off.”

A quick internet search later, she discerned that no one had done a Duke’s cookbook before. Though the cookbook is not a Duke’s product, it has the blessing of the corporate parent. The C.F. Sauer Co., based in Richmond, Va., bought the Duke’s brand in 1929 from founder Eugenia Thomas Duke, who created the mayonnaise in

Greenville, S.C., in 1917.

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 supercreamy with the perfect hint of tanginess. It has a luscious mouthfeel.”

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 — a trick she learned from television food personality and cookbook author Alton Brown.

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.

“Southern food appreciation isn’t going away any time soon,” Freeman said. “People are finally catching on that it’s such a special cuisine,” she said.

Made even better with a dollop of mayonnaise. Duke’s, of course.

Ashley Stickland Freeman is the author of “The Duke’s Mayonnaise Cookbook.”