Quickest, Easiest, Foolproof, Works Every Time, Never Splits, 100% Guaranteed, Home-Made Mayonnaise

Mayonnaise is far too risky a sauce to make - the number of things that can go wrong, makes it an even money bet recipe, at best.

So, why bother making it at all? Well, to be honest, a jar of Hellman's Light normally adorns my fridge door shelf, for every day use. But on certain occasions, when the mayo is a key ingredient in a dish rather than an accompaniment, only home-made mayonnaise will do. For instance, when I'm making my Temaki Sushi, I'm not looking for the taste of a fish salad sandwich with nori seaweed in place of wholemeal sliced bread, I'm looking for something a bit more bistro-y (excellent new word) to waken the tastebuds rather than lull them into a pleasant coma.

In normal recipes, mayonnaise curdles due to either the temperature of the ingredients not being quite right, the bowl was too cold, the early splashes of oil were added too quickly, the egg yolk reacted to the vinegar badly, the bowl had a crack in it, it was a Thursday... blah blah blah. What a nightmare.

So, I discovered that the answer was to shock the mayonnaise into submission by incorporating the oil into the other ingredients as quickly as possible, to not allow them time to reject it. So, without further ado, it's time to bring in the hand blender (I'm not talking about the one with twin beaters on the end, I'm talking about the ones with the small cutting blades on the end of a wand, that you usually use to make soup).

Simply place all of the ingredients in a tall bowl or receptacle not much wider than the head of the blender, press the button, whizz for three seconds, say goodbye to memories of curdly messes, and... hello, mayonnaise! It's completely foolproof, even for me.

You can use this recipe as a base for aioli (garlic mayonnaise - just add minced garlic) tartare sauce (the traditional accompaniment to fish - just add chopped capers, gherkins and parsley) or sauce gribiche (as I did for my Pouting and Pancetta Fishcakes). Get going; it's great fun to see eggs, oil and other unlikely things turn magically into mayonnaise with the touch of a button. Check out Potless later in the week to see how I use my home-made mayonnaise in a forgotten classic, the Prawn Cocktail.

Making your own mayo is cheap too. A 200g bowl of home-made mayonnaise will set you back about 75 pence - about half the price of shop-bought (although, if you're pregnant, I'm pretty sure you shouldn't be eating raw eggs, so stick to Hellman's).

Makes 200g

INGREDIENTS:

2 egg yolks, at room temperature
1 teaspoon of mustard, preferably Dijon
10ml lemon juice
10ml white wine vinegar
Pinches of salt and white pepper
200ml sunflower oil

Place the ingredients in a narrow bowl or receptacle. Hold the head of the hand blender to the bottom of the bowl and press the button. Bring the head of the blender up and down through the mayonnaise to ensure everything has blended together properly. Stores for up to a week in a refrigerator.