Mayonnaise

DIY Mayonnaise

€3 for 500ml €6 per litre

Home-made mayonnaise? Seriously? We thought the idea was bonkers but said we’d give it a go and while we were amazed at how easy it was to make and how mayonnaise-like the end product was we’re not entirely convinced it is a good idea. Made with just eggs, vegetable oil, French mustard, caster sugar, salt and pepper, it can all be whisked up and ready to go in less than 15 minutes and is nice and pure. The ingredients cost €3 so it is not cheaper than the cheapest option out there. It will only keep for a week too so unless you plan to use a lot of it, you might end up binning much of it.

Verdict: Bothersome, versatile

Star rating: ***

Hellmann’s Mayonnaise with a twist of pepper

€1.99 for 250ml €7.96 per litre

We’re suckers for anything “new” so when we saw this sitting alongside the more traditional mayo from Hellmann’s we felt we had no choice but to buy it. And we’re rather glad we did. The peppery kick adds a dimension that we did not realise we were missing. But then we thought about it some more. This costs €1.99 for 250 while 480ml of regular Hellmann’s in a squeezy bottle costs just 10 cent more – it seems like a lot to pay for some ground up pepper, to be honest. We discovered by looking at the small print at the back that this is “light reduced fat mayonnaise” and has less than half the calories of the regular stuff which may be the justification the company has for the high price. We’re not buying it though.

Verdict: Overpriced and faddy

Star rating: **

Dunnes Real Mayonnaise

€1.89 for 500ml €3.78 per litre

This is made in Ireland, with free range eggs and is a “rich and delicious source of Omega 3”. It is also very cheap. It is also “real” mayonnaise, the jar assures us. These things are to its credit (with the exception of the “real” boast) and while this product is not terrible we’re not sure we’d be rushing out to buy it again. It lacks anything by way of subtly and the most prominent flavour we were able to detect was salt. While we like salt as much as the next product tester, we couldn’t help but feel it overpowered everything else that might have been going on in the jar and while it is good with chips, it would perhaps be best avoided if eating more delicately flavoured foods.

Verdict: Cheap, salty

Star rating: **

Stokes Real Mayonnaise

€4.25 for 345g €12.31 per kg

This is another “real” mayonnaise, whatever that is supposed to mean – nothing, we suspect. It is very much at the high end of the market and you will want to have very deep pockets to consider buying this on a regular basis. While we have grave concerns about the price, we have no such concerns about the quality. This is a very good product indeed. It is rich and creamy and uses a healthy dollop of olive oil in the mix – not so much as to overpower the other flavours, mind you. This is probably the nicest mayonnaise we have reviewed but we are still not convinced that it is a price worth paying.

Verdict: Lovely, dear

Star rating: ***

Heinz Mayonnaise

€2.29 for 420ml €5.45 per litre

There was a time when Heinz made ketchup, salad cream and baked beans and steered well clear of the mayonnaise market which had been well and truly cornered by the Hellmann’s folk. Not any more. Now it makes mayonnaise too and not just any kind of mayonnaise, either but a “magnificent” kind, if you please. We’re not sure it is magnificent but it is rather good. It is very creamy and pleasingly sweet, with a hint of salad cream to it. We’re not sure it is as good as the traditional Hellmann’s variety but it is a good bit better than its twisted pepper version and when all things are considered the best of the bunch reviewed on this occasion.

Verdict: Amayonnaising.

Star rating: ****