FoodReference.com Logo

FoodReference.com   (Since 1999)
 

Food Articles, News & Features Section

   Home       Food Articles       Food Trivia       Today in Food History       Recipes       Cooking Tips       Food Videos       Food Quotes       Who's Who       Food Trivia Quizzes       Crosswords       Food Poems       Cookbooks       Food Posters       Culinary Schools       Gourmet Tours       Food Festivals & Shows  

 You are here > Home > Food Articles >

Alvin Starkman Articles >  Mayonnaise in Mexico

 

CULINARY SCHOOLS &
COOKING CLASSES

From Amateur & Basic Cooking Classes to Professional Chef Training
Over 1,000 schools & classes listed for U.S., Online & Worldwide

 

 

 

A LIGHT LOOK AT MAYONNAISE IN MEXICO

Alvin Starkman, M.A., LL.B. (Article archive)

I Say Miracle Whip, You Say Mayonnaise

The fixation with mayonnaise in Oaxaca, Mexico, is subtle, as one would imagine with any condiment, yet manifests in an extraordinary supermarket phenomenon unrivaled elsewhere in North America.  Venture through one of the Soriana chain of grocery stores and you’ll find no less than 39 different sizes, types and brands occupying 6 shelves, each 32½ feet long: original, lime, chipotle and other chili flavors; squeezable and not; Soriana brand, economy manufacturer, national brands and no less than three familiar American producers; and, regular, light and 0% fat (rather stunning since Mexico tops even Florida in the obesity sweeps).  To put the marvel into perspective, this singular, highly versatile dressing garners pretty well the same respect from marketing mavens as does the whole range of breakfast cereals and soft drinks.

MayonesaOaxaca will simply not let mayonnaise take a back seat to its deep red cousin or to mustard, and not for a lack of sophistication of the Mexican palate.  You’ll find your Dijon, Maille, provencale, deli and the rest at one end of the mayo mantels, and  your catsups and ketchups at the other; but that’s just the point…they envelope and draw your attention to the aisle’s star attraction, just as bookends provide functionality and little more.

Much in the same way as liberals, progressives and others of a reasonable bent decline to appear on Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly show, the Soriana executives declined to grant an interview to assist in unraveling the mystery, leaving this writer to glean an understanding from elsewhere, using a background in sociological fieldwork, a keen eye for observation, on-the-street interviews, and a death wish to rapidly put on weight (otherwise known as, amongst anthropologists, “going native”).    

If you think it’s hard to find the beef in a Big Mac, it’s even more of a treasure hunt in Oaxaca when eating a hamburger on the street, loaded with our dreamy white wonder.  Be it burger or dog, when your merchant of the finest meat you’ll find on the corner is finished grilling your fare, he’ll likely ask “con todo” (with everything),  the local retort invariably being a simple nod in the affirmative.  Mustard relish and onions are  virtually unheard of requests.  The twin temptations of elotes (boiled corn on the cob) and esquites (the same, but off the cob and in a styrofoam cup) are similarly finished off with the works, in this case juice squeezed from a lime, crumbled Oaxacan cheese, chili, and a healthy dollop of mayo.  For this Oaxaca-street-corner-food junkie, as well as his family, life doesn’t get much better than stirring up a steaming cup of fully garnished cooked kernels.  

 


Now your industrial size jar of mayonnaise finds greater application in more stationary eateries, but who would have thought in the snootiest of fine restaurants? “Oui monsieur, boot of coors I’ll brling you mor.”  And in high end marisquerías (seafood restaurants), even before your appetizer of crab bisque, shrimp cocktail or mixed seafood salad is brought to your mesa, a mountain of mayonesa alongside freshly fried tostadas and cellophane swathed saltines arrives. The middle-of-the-road restaurants have not yet progressed beyond the sixties, and so in bistros and buffets alike one finds every imaginable side and salad smoothed over:  pea and carrot; Waldorf; boiled broccoli; and virtually every other fruit and vegetable combination, all whipped up with a miracle.

For linguistically challenged travelers transfixed on sandwiches, alongside musts for remembering from your Spanish phrasebook such as “donde está el baño,” (where’s the washroom) and “la cuenta, por favor,” (the check please) you must never forget “sin mayonesa, por favor” (hold the mayo, please). Otherwise, be it chicken, pork, beef or cheese, and regardless of whether or not it’s already been greased from the grill, as automatic as corned beef on rye with mustard, that additional layer will be levied.

An then there’s the home, where in many respects one encounters a similarity with commercial use, particularly in the kitchen.  However venturing into dining and living rooms reveals even a greater dedication to daubing than hereinbefore noted, where devotees ranging from toddler to teen, and adult to aged, are frequently found indulging in buns and breads spread with nothing more.  But we dare not venture down the corridors to the bedrooms, leaving that to the imagination.


Alvin Starkman together with wife Arlene operate Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast ( http://www.oaxacadream.com ).  Alvin received his masters in social anthropology in 1978, and his law degree in 1984.  Thereafter he was a litigator in Toronto until taking early retirement.  He and his family were frequent visitors to Oaxaca between 1991 and when they became permanent residents in 2004.

TOP 

RELATED ARTICLES

Alvin Starkman Articles        Chapulines in Oaxaca: Recipe & Primer        Certified Organic Produce in Oaxaca, Mexico        Rabbit Hunting in Oaxaca, Mexico        Oaxacan Chicken Estofado de Miltomate        Best Traditional Mole Verde        Modern Mole Verde        Toronto Duck Recipe        Black Mole from Oaxaca        Oaxaca Documentary Episode 1        Episode 2 - Oaxaca, Mexico        Dining and Indulging in Oaxaca        Mayonnaise in Mexico        Barbequed Goat        Mole Verde Con Espinazo        Mico-logica: Mushrooms in Oaxaca        Regional Wild Mushroom Fair        Mexico's Magical Mushroom Tour        Pilar Cabrera in Toronto        El Tigre Restaurant        Guadua Restaurant        El Mirador Restaurant        La Catrina De Alcala Restaurant        Caldo de Piedra Restaurant        Is it Safe to Travel to Mexico?        Cutting Edge of Mexican Cuisine        Local Molino Cooking Classes        Kid's Cooking Classes in Oaxaca        Sunday, a One-day Gastronomic Delight        Oaxaca Culinary Tour, page 1        Oaxaca Tour Daily Events        Oaxaca, Sunday & Monday        Casa de los Sabores        Enrique Flores: Oaxacan Artist        Pairing Mexican Craft Beer with Mezcal        Mezcal Producers & Sociedad de Mezcaleros        Oaxaca Tradition Trumps Innovation        La Muerte Mezcal in South Africa        ProMexico Promotes Mezcal        National Mezcal Festival        Mezcal Festival: Historical Context        14th Annual Mezcal Festival        Chango Mezcalero        Origin of Chango Mezcalero        In the Fields: Pulque        Pulque Production in Matatlán        Rural Oaxaca Mezcal Production        Mezcal: 5 Generations Of Palenqueros        Mezcal in Oaxaca

 

Home        About Us & Contact Us        Food Articles        Gardening        Marketplace        Food Links

 

Please feel free to link to any pages of FoodReference.com from your website.

For permission to use any of this content please E-mail: james@foodreference.com
All contents are copyright © 1990 - 2015 James T. Ehler and www.FoodReference.com unless otherwise noted.
All rights reserved.
You may copy and use portions of this website for non-commercial, personal use only.
Any other use of these materials without prior written authorization is not very nice and violates the copyright.

Please take the time to request permission.
 

 

 

 

Order Free Food & Kitchen Catalogs

 

 

 

 

 

 

POPULAR PAGES

Beverage Articles
Food Facts & Trivia
Recipe Contests
Local Food Festivals
Recipe Category Index

 

 

Click here to buy posters at Allposters!
Click here to buy posters at Allposters!

 

 

FREE Food & Beverage Publications
An extensive selection of free magazines and other publications for qualified Food, Beverage & Hospitality professionals

 

 

Chef with red wine glass