I don’t know why I’ve recently been drawn to making foods that are typically store-bought in my home. First bread, now mayonnaise. And I don’t even eat very much of either. But maybe that’s part of it — we buy a loaf of bread and struggle to finish it before it goes bad. A bottle of mayonnaise would last years and multiple moves in our house. So making my own means I can control the amount.
Though I suspect it’s some deeper reason that I will try to articulate here. Something about not taking for granted the pre-processed, pre-made foods we consume so much of? Of course buying bread and yogurt and pico de gallo and pasta sauce in a jar are easier and save us time and are more reliable than making things from scratch (it’s pretty disappointing when the bread you’ve spent a day tending comes out of the oven heavy, thick-crusted, and inedible). But we lose some connection with the fundamental process of nourishing ourselves when we fall into routines of assembling rather than really cooking.
Or maybe it’s about wanting to know the secrets behind these foods we take for granted. I’m drawn to the alchemy of seeing the ingredients change states before my eyes. It’s different than the stir-frying and pasta making I’ve been doing for years. What fascinates me these days is watching the egg yolk and olive oil thicken and become something new, something we call mayonnaise—and to know every ingredient and every movement that went into creating it. It’s a bit magical if I pause to notice the end result. I’m in awe of the chemistry at work behind the kneading and proofing and baking and steaming of gluten, and how adjusting those processes alters the final state of the bread we eat. I don’t understand all the science and probably never will, but I can be a part of the process and I can experience that wonder when I cook.
[You can find the garlic aioli recipe in this how-to video from Tamar Adler. I have her book "An Everlasting Meal" in my wish list, but I'm bummed that the (lighter) paperback cover doesn't have the same cover as the hardback because I really like the photo cover.]
Filed under: Food
