To Hell, Mann and Back!

This is half the size of ours.

I am pleased to report that the Humpy Dumpty 2 quart squat jar of Hellman's Mayonnaise that I bought at Costco in Morelia is diminishing. Yesterday I was able to transfer the remaining contents to a smaller, more svelte jar. I will be even more pleased to reach the end of it.

I don't know what I must have been thinking when I bought it. Maybe it was that the smaller, compact jars of 3 shrink wrapped McCormick's (Mexico) mayo just didn't last long enough.

Well, the Hellman's sure lasts. It also takes up more than its share of space in the fridge. It is thick, bland, custard-like and unctuous. Mexican mayo is more like a tangier, spreadable emulsion.

I believe that a realistic test of one's adaptability to life here SOB is the Expat Mayo Test. Can you live here and be happy without your favorite brand of NOB mayo? I can. I have come to prefer McCormick's (Mexico) Mayonesa con jugo de limón because it is not only readily available, it is less unctuous than Hellman's. It tastes fine. It also takes up less space in our compact fridge. The emptied and washed out jars are nice for storage.

My Main Mayo in Mexico

We tried Wilsey's. Bad. We tried Sauer's, another 2-quart jar; a gift from our amigo, Peter in Morelia. Nice, but unnecessary. Almost nothing beats McCormicks, to our taste. Yes; La Costeña, another Mexican brand is fine, but Costco doesn't sell it. We have been to Hellmann's and now we'll come back to McCormick's.

Another worthy local brand

There are those expats who so greatly crave the mayo of their NOB youth that they are willing to drive from the lovely Pátzcuaro - Morelia area to the Gringo enclave of Lakeside (Chapala and Ajijíc) to buy it, at greatly inflated prices at Super Lake. Of course, they buy other things while there as well, such as canned green beans. There's no accounting for tastes. We love the inexpensive, fresh green beans here, which take a minimal amount of preparation and cooking time.

A few years ago, another expat, living in the Blesséd, Magic city of Pátzcuaro proclaimed that "Mexican mayo was GARBAGE!"
I thought that was a culturally insensitive, not to mention offensive remark.

It has been pointed out that accomplished cooks can make superior, fresher mayo in their own kitchen. The ingredients are few. Of course, I have done that in past years, but now I just don't want to add yet another unnecessary layer of complexity to my meal preparation. There's also the dubious aspect of eating raw eggs used in the homemade mayo. There are enough hazards to intestinal health without adding possible salmonella. Making mayo in a home kitchen also takes patience. That's a virtue with which I have become less familiar in recent years.

Even Mexican mayo can be abused, in awful applications such as in sushi, on pizza, etc.

I will leave you with one final thought: although I'm at ease with Mexican mayo, I will never accept any ketchup other than Heinz'. Maybe, Del Monte in a pinch. We have had some terrible, Mexican made, ketchup-like substances, red stuff thickened with starches and gels. But that is another topic, another day.